Bhubaneswar

Odisha Chief Minister Charan Majhi held a review meeting on Saturday with top police officials to discuss the state’s law and order situation.

The meeting took place at the state guest house in Bhubaneswar and was attended by Director General of Police (DGP) Arun Sarangi, Director Intelligence Saumendra Priyadarshi, and other senior police officials.

Earlier on Friday, DGP Arun Sarangi announced that three new criminal laws enacted in 2023 will be enforced from July 1.

We are preparing for the implementation of the three new criminal laws from July 1. There are various provisions in the new laws that require notifications from the state government. Despite some delays due to elections, we are expediting the preparations and providing training to all police personnel, said Arun Kumar Sarangi, Director General of Police, Odisha, in a statement to source.

The three laws, i.e., the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023; the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023; and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023, replace the earlier criminal laws, namely, the Indian Penal Code 1860, the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872.

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Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita will have 358 sections (instead of 511 sections in the IPC). A total of 20 new crimes have been added to the bill, and the imprisonment sentence has been increased for 33 of them. The amount of the fine has been increased in 83 crimes and mandatory minimum punishment has been introduced in 23 crimes. The penalty of community service has been introduced for six crimes and 19 sections have been repealed or removed from the bill.