LG seeks deadlines for projects related to criminal legislations

Lieutenant governor (LG) VK Saxena on Monday directed the home department, police, National Informatics Centre (NIC), directorate of prosecution and forensic science laboratory (FSL), among other stakeholders, to come up with specific timelines to complete projects in the pipeline pertaining to the ongoing implementation of the three new criminal legislations in the national capital, officials with the LG secretariat said.
In a review meeting, Saxena stressed removing hurdles at the earliest for completing the projects, they said.
“Various issues were deliberated upon in the meeting, including the training of nodal officers appointed by Delhi government’s health department, for MedLEaPR, which is a portal for medico-legal cases. On the proposal for a new building for the directorate of prosecution, the LG asked chief secretary Naresh Kumar and other officials to explore the possibility of providing a suitable space for this department till new infrastructure is developed for the purpose,” a senior officer with the LG secretariat, asking not to be named, said.
Three new codes, the Bharatiya Nyaya Samhita (BNS), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA) came into effect on July 1, replacing the colonial-era Indian Penal Code (IPC), Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and Indian Evidence Act, respectively.
The Delhi government’s health department has so far on-boarded all central government hospitals, including AIIMS, Safdarjung Hospital, Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and Lady Hardinge Hospital, on MedLEaPR. Besides, 186 Delhi government doctors and 32 central government doctors have registered themselves on MedLEaPR and created 81 reports on the portal.
Another officer, who also attended the meeting, said that the LG asked officials concerned to conduct joint inspections of project sites. “Besides, the LG was also apprised about the updates on suitable changes in the inter-operable criminal justice system, e-court, e-forensic, standard operating protocol (SOP) for crime scene management, mapping of special courts with all police stations and special police stations with courts concerned, cadre restructuring of prosecution directorate and framing of recruitment rules,” the officer, requesting anonymity, said.
The officer said three training sessions were held by NIC for nodal officers and doctors nominated by respective hospitals. “The LG was informed that the training of 26 doctors of Delhi government has also been conducted by National Forensic Sciences University (NFSU), Gujarat, on July 30 and 31 in the first batch. The procurement of mobile forensic vans for police and FSL, and the necessary infrastructure for providing video conference facilities to all 691 courts of Delhi were also deliberated upon. In both matters, Saxena directed the departments concerned to expedite the process in consultation with all stakeholder departments. He also directed the department to ensure transparency in procurement process,” the officer said.
Officials from the LG secretariat said Delhi home minister Kailash Gahlot accompanied the LG during the review, but law minister Atishi could not attend the meeting due to a family exigency.