New Criminal laws come into effect: CID updates registration system for BNS sections in Maharashtra

PUNE: The criminal investigation department (CID), the nodal agency in Maharashtra for keeping the police software up to date with latest developments, has completed up dating the online process for registration of FIRs under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which will replace the Indian Penal Code from July 1, at the police station level. The updated sy stem will go functional from July 1.
“We have followed the directions issued by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) to update our system for online registration of FIRs under BNS,” state CID chief Prashant Burde told TOI.
The department’s superintendent of police (technical), Vaishali Jadhav-Mane, said all police stations in the state are connected with the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) for online registration of FIRs, and then uploading of subsequent developments like arrest of suspects, their statements and chargesheets. “The onlin e system at police stations will show BNS sections instead of IPC sections from July 1. The slots where the IPC sections are written will be replaced by the BNS sections.”
To improve the understanding of police personnel, comparative charts on the IPC and BNS sections have been provided to each police station, Jadhav-Mane said. “Also, we have asked all the police personnel to download ‘Sankalan’ application on their mobile phones. The application converts IPC sections into BNS sections.”
The officer further said an action plan to integrate systems of the courts, state forensic sciences laboratories, prisons, police and prosecution has been prepared. “The system will automatically show the BNS provisions for their functioning and understanding.”
“On the technical front, our system is ready. However, staff at police stations can face some difficulties while invoking the BNS sections during registration of FIRs. We have circulated a help line number at the police stations and staff can dial it to get answers or directions for their queries by CID officers or NCRB officials,” she said.
Jadhav-Mane said three to four officers and constables from each police unit have been trained to use the BNS sections on the online system and how to use the mobile application.
TOI on Tuesday and Wednesday visited a few police stations in Pune city. A desk officer at a police station located in the old part of the city said, “We are learning to use the updated CCTNS system with the BNS sections. It is almost sim ilar to the IPC sections. We will take some time to adjust.”
Another constable said, “We have learned and used IPC sections for the last 25-30 years along with the case laws. We know what IPC section to invoke in a FIR considering the future of the case, including investigations and court proceedings. We will have to start afresh with BNS now.”