Under new criminal laws, search and seizure will have to be video graphed

New Delhi: Once the new criminal laws are passed by the parliament and get the presidential assent, the entire process of conducting a search of a place or taking possession of any property, including preparation of a seizure list and signing of the list by witnesses, shall be video-graphed on any electronic device by the Police and it could be recorded on a mobile phone too. 

Not only that the recording will be forwarded without delay to the concerned Magistrate by Police.

It has been seen that the defence lawyer always attacks the sanctity of search and seizure during the trial and if this is video recorded, a lot of controversies will die down naturally. 

A major step under the new laws would be the establishment of a  Directorate of Prosecution up to the District Level in various States/UTs. 

The overall head at the state level is going to be the Director, Directorate of Prosecution. He will be assisted by as many numbers of Deputy Directors as deemed fit by the State Government. At the district level, a District Directorate of Prosecution shall be established.  This setup at the district level will by headed by a Deputy Director-rank officer and shall be assisted by as many as Assistant Directors of Prosecution.

The Prosecution set up in the State will be under the administrative control of the State Home Department.  All Public Prosecutors/Additional Public Prosecutors/Special Public Prosecutors shall be subordinate to the Director of Prosecution.

In order to improve the conviction rate, the use of Forensic Experts will be made compulsory in all cases where punishment is of 7 years or more.

The government officials added that these transformational changes, particularly in the age of science and technology will go a long way in securing better conviction and increase the pace of trials. Besides, this will also introduce transparency in the entire procedure and supervision by multiple levels.