Amit Shah stresses on need to increase conviction rate in country
3 min read . Updated: 28 Jan 2023, 07:33 PM IST
Premium- Union Home Minister said if the police have to stay two steps ahead, conviction rate has to be increased and with the use of scientific techniques
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday stressed on the need to increase conviction rate in the country and integrating the criminal justice system with forensic science investigation.
He said that if the police have to stay two steps ahead, conviction rate has to be increased and with the use of scientific techniques, NFSU can help in this field.
Speaking after laying the foundation for an off-campus facility of National Forensic Sciences University, Shah said, “the world of crime is changing very fast. Counterfeit currency trading, Hawala transactions, border infiltration, narcotics, cybercrime and crime against women. Criminals are moving ahead of the police and until the police do not remain two steps ahead of the criminals, prevention of crime is not possible."
He said that if the police have to stay two steps ahead, conviction rate has to be increased and with the use of scientific techniques, NFSU can help in this field.
The minister said that unless the investigation is scientifically based on forensic science, the culprit cannot be punished in the court. “For this, it is very important that the officers of Forensic Science should be first to reach the crime scene in all the crimes with punishment of 6 years or more," he added.
He said that Karnataka is the second state after Delhi which has made the visit of forensic science experts mandatory in urban areas in all crimes which have more than 6 years punishment.
Shah said that when India is progressing in every field, our challenges have also increased and we have to understand that according to these challenges, we also have to prepare our experts.
Highlighting that the country has been making strides in the field of forensic science, the home minister said the country will have the largest number of forensic science experts in five years.
Noting that as India is progressing the challenges will also increase, Shah said there is a need to prepare experts in accordance with those challenges.
There are three parts for law and order, he said, one is practical law and order which is managed by police, crime investigation in which forensic science has a big role, and then strengthening the criminal justice system.
“Forensic science evidence will be given importance in our justice system, so we are amending the IPC, CrPC and Indian Evidence Act to strengthen it for giving punishment to criminals based on scientific evidence," he said, adding that it is no more the time for “third degree methods".
Highlighting that the conviction rate in Canada is 62 per cent, Israel 93 per cent, England 80 per cent and America 90 per cent, while India’s is 50 per cent, Shah said: “we cannot be lagging behind in this. If we have to set right the law and order situation in the country, we have to increase our conviction rate. We will have to integrate our criminal justice system with forensic science-based investigation." For certain heinous crimes, forensic science investigation has to be made mandatory, he said.
Shah said that if we have to make forensic science investigation mandatory in every police station across the country, then we need 8000 to 10,000 forensic science experts in 9 years. Before the establishment of the National Forensic Science University, the Gujarat Forensic Science University had a capacity of 500 and this goal could not be achieved.
He said that after opening the campuses of National Forensic Science University gradually in all the states of the country, we will definitely get 10000 experts who will serve the country in strengthening the criminal justice system for many years.
Noting that the foundation has been laid for the ninth off-campus facility of National Forensic Sciences University in Dharwad, Shah said, in this campus of NFSU, subjects relating to forensic science like cybersecurity, digital forensics, artificial intelligence, DNA forensics, food processing, environment forensics, and agriculture forensics, will be taught till the expert level.
