By: Express News ServiceChandigarh | October 4, 2025 02:30 AM IST 3 min readUnion Home Minister Amit Shah with Haryana CM Nayab Saini during the inauguration of a week-long exhibition on the three criminal laws in Kurukshetra on Friday (PTI Photo)The three new criminal laws are “the biggest reform the country has witnessed in the 21st century”, Union Home Minister Amit Shah Friday said that adding that they make the process of justice delivery simpler and time bound and after 2026, an FIR will be disposed of in three years on an average.“There is a perception among people that if they go to a police station, they will not get justice for years. I can say it with confidence that after 2026, an FIR will be disposed of in three years on an average and justice will be ensured,” Shah said.There will be no “tareekh pe tareekh” (repeated adjournments in courts), the Home Minister said, adding that the new laws would give priority to providing justice, unlike the colonial-era laws that gave primacy to penal action.The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA), framed by the BJP-led Centre, replaced the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and the Indian Evidence Act, respectively. The new laws came into effect on July 1, 2024.Addressing a gathering after inaugurating a week-long exhibition on the three laws in Haryana’s Kurukshetra, Shah said, the purpose of the laws framed by the British was to maintain their rule in India.“We gained independence on August 15, 1947, but did not get rid of the laws framed by the British in the British Parliament in the 1860s,” Shah said and added that the new laws have been crafted based on the three principles given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi: “citizen first, dignity first, justice first”. “Instead of a stick and third degree, police, under the new laws, work on data and scientific evidence. Now, police, jail, the judiciary, the prosecution and forensics have been connected online,” the Home Minister said.Thanks to e-FIRs and zero FIRs, women need not visit police stations anymore to get a complaint lodged, he said. “Online FIRs can be registered. All zero FIRs are being converted into regular FIRs within 24 hours”. Videography of all seizures has been made mandatory, and forensic investigation compulsory for all offenses carrying a punishment of seven years or more, he added.Story continues below this adHe said that new challenges like mob lynching, terrorism, organised crime and digital crime have emerged. There is a provision in the new laws for a trial in absentia for an accused who has fled the country, he said.Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram© The Indian Express Pvt LtdTags:Amit Shah