23-Mar-2022: Amendments to IPC And CrPC

The Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs, in its 146th Report had recommended that there is a need for a comprehensive review of the Criminal Justice System of the country.  Earlier the Parliamentary Standing Committee in its 111th and 128th Reports had also stressed upon the need to reform and rationalize the criminal law of the country by introducing a comprehensive legislation in Parliament rather than bringing about piece meal amendments in respective Acts. With a view to make comprehensive changes in the criminal laws of the country to provide affordable and speedy justice to all, create a people centric legal structure, the Government has initiated the process for comprehensive amendments to criminal laws viz. Indian Penal Code, 1860, the code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 in consultation with all stakeholders.

A Committee had been constituted under the Chairpersonship of the Vice Chancellor, National Law University, Delhi to suggest reforms in the Criminal laws.  The Ministry of Home Affairs has also sought suggestions from Governors, Chief Ministers of States, Lieutenant Governors (LGs) and Administrators of Union Territories, Hon’ble Chief Justice of India, Hon’ble Chief Justices of various High Courts, Bar Council of India, Bar Council of various States, various Universities/Law Institutes and all Members of Parliament regarding comprehensive amendments in criminal laws.  The Government is committed to bring out a comprehensive legislation taking into account the recommendations of the Committee and the suggestions received from all the stakeholders.

9-Feb-2022: Crimes Against Women

National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) compiles and publishes information on crimes against women in its publication 'Crime in India'. As per the data published by NCRB, a total of 4,05,326 and 3,71,503 cases of crime against women were registered across the country during the years 2019 and 2020 respectively. The data shows decline in the crime against women during the year 2020 as compared to 2019.

“Police” and “Public Order” are State subjects under the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India. The responsibility to maintain law and order, protection of life and property of the citizens including investigation and prosecution of crime against women and children rests primarily with the respective State Governments.

 Nevertheless, the Central Government gives highest priority to ensuring safety and security of women and has undertaken various legislative and schematic interventions in this regard. These include legislations such as 'The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2018', 'The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013', 'The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013', 'The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2006', 'The Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961', etc.

The schemes/ projects implemented by Central Government include One Stop Centres (OSCs); Universalisation of Women Helplines (WHL), Emergency Response Support System (ERSS) which is a pan-India single number (112)/ mobile app based system for emergencies; a cyber-crime reporting portal to report obscene content; Safe City Projects in 8 cities (Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow and Mumbai) including infrastructure, technology adoption and capacity building in community through awareness programmes, training and skill development programs for Investigation Officers, Prosecution Officers and Medical Officers; distribution of Sexual Assault Evidence Collection (SAEC) Kits to States/ UTs; establishment of State of Art DNA Laboratory at CFSL, Chandigarh; assistance to 24 States/ UTs to strengthen Forensic Science Laboratories; setting up of 1023 Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs) including exclusive POCSO (e-POCSO) Courts for speedy disposal of cases of rape and cases under POCSO Act; setting up/ strengthening of Anti Human Trafficking Units (AHTUs) in all districts of the country; setting up/ strengthening of Women Help Desks (WHDs) at Police Stations etc. The Government has also put in place Investigation Tracking System for Sexual Offences, an online analytic tool for tracking and monitoring of investigation. A National Database of Sexual Offenders (NDSO) has also been created. In addition, Ministry of Women and Child Development and Ministry of Home Affairs have issued advisories to States/ UTs from time to time on various issues pertaining to safety and security of women and children.

12-Mar-2020: NCRB celebrates 35th Inception Day and  launches Crime Multi Agency Centre and National Cybercrime Training Centre

National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) celebrated its 35thInception Day, on March 12, 2020 (Thursday). Union Minister of State for Home Shri Nityanand Rai graced the occasion as the Chief Guest and Shri V.S.K. Kumudhi, DG, BPR&D, was the Guest of Honour on this occasion. DGs and Senior officers from various central and state police organizations as well as former DGs of NCRB attended the function.

On this occasion, besides giving away the medals to officers for meritorious service and other awards, the Minister launched Crime Multi Agency Centre (Cri-MAC) for sharing of information on heinous crime and other issues related to inter-state coordination. He also launched National Cybercrime Training Centre (NCTC) for professional quality eLearning services on cybercrime investigation on large scale to police officers, judges, prosecutors and other stakeholders.  

Addressing the gathering, Minister of State lauded the role of NCRB networking 15993 Police Stations and 8208 higher Police offices across the country under CCTNS project. He said that the huge database of CCTNS will help investigators in solving crime cases faster. He added that fingerprints were being used in the country from very early times and mentioned that National Fingerprint Identification System(NAFIS) being setup by NCRB will be a game changer for police. He emphasized the importance of capacity building in cyber-crime investigation and mentioned the Government’s resolve in tackling the menace of increasing cyber-crime.

Shri Ram Phal Pawar, Director, NCRB welcomed the guests and informed that NCRB has released all the pending publications this year including ‘Crime in India’, ‘Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India’, ‘Prison Statistics India’ and ‘Finger Print in India’, which are being widely referred to by the researchers and policy makers. He briefed the gathering about the automatic matching and generation of alerts to police stations on matching of missing persons with found persons and dead bodies in police data base.

The system will also generate alerts on matching of recovered and stolen vehicles based on national database of CCTNS. He also mentioned how NCRB had joined in Global efforts against Child pornography. He also elaborated about the CCTNS Hackathon & Cyber Challenge 2020 organised by NCRB in collaboration with Cyber Peace Foundation, which received overwhelming response from police, industry and academia. He said that it has helped in gathering innovative ideas for improving CCTNS.

3-Feb-2020: Most missing women from Maharashtra, M.P.

In 2019, the Supreme Court had directed the NCRB to analyze the data on missing persons, mainly women and children, so that areas prone to persons being trafficked can be identified.

The NCRB study was based on the annual Crime in India Reports of the years 2016, 2017 and 2018.

The study states that the highest number of women and children who go missing in the country are from Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. The trend was observed for all the considered years of 2016, 2017 and 2018.

According to the report, the States where the highest number of women went missing in the three years of the study are Maharashtra, West Bengal, and Madhya Pradesh.

Considering the fact that incidents of missing women and children are not uniform across the country, the study aimed to identify the areas where registered cases of missing persons, specifically women and children, are higher than in other areas. Such areas could be one of the sources, transit or destination sites for child/women trafficking. This will help the state plan appropriate preventive measures for implementation in such areas.

29-Jan-2020: NCRB Launches two online national level services related to Search of Missing Persons and to Generate Vehicle NOC

National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) launched Police related Citizen centric services on CCTNS platform. Director, Intelligence Bureau, Shri Arvind Kumar presided over the two launches.

These online services will help Citizens in Searching their Missing Persons and Generating Vehicle NOC. The services can be accessed through ‘digitalpolicecitizenservices.gov.in’ portal or through a link in the existing ‘Digital Police Portal’. So far such services are being provided through the state citizen portals and it is the first time that these are being launched centrally.

Director, NCRB, Shri Ram Phal Pawar while addressing the gathering  informed that the two citizen services namely ‘Missing Person Search’ and ‘Generate Vehicle NOC’ will now be available online to Citizens. The Citizens can search for their missing kins against the national database of recovered unidentified found person/unidentified dead bodies from their homes. This will hugely benefit relatives of missing persons and save them from running around pillar to post, as all such details including photos are available in Crime and Criminal Tracking Network System and will now be accessible to citizens through this portal at their convenience.

In this user friendly search, citizen may enter search criteria in the portal and the system will search it from the available national database across country and will display the result immediately with photograph and other details.

Director also explained about another service for citizens ‘Generate Vehicle NOC’ which allows citizens to ascertain the status of a vehicle before its second hand purchase, as to whether it is suspicious or clean from Police records. This search could be made against National database based on vehicle’s details; one can generate and download the relevant NOC, required by the RTO before the transfer of ownership.

NCRB and Cyber Peace foundation together have designed CCTNS Hackathon and Cyber Challenge 2020 with the aim to enhance skills and knowledge of law enforcement personnel at ground level. This Hackathon has been organized to offer a unique experience to the participants, to advance their skills and knowledge and to promote coordination with industry and academia.

NCRB and National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children’s (NCMEC), USA has signed a Memorandum of Understanding to receive information on such material originating from India. NCMEC is a non-profit organization established by the United States Congress. It has a centralized reporting system by which internet service providers across the world or intermediaries like Facebook, YouTube, etc. can report about persons who circulate images of child pornography.

Director, Intelligence Bureau inaugurated the Cyber Tipline monitoring facility in the NCRB. He reiterated that intersection between crime and technology is more apparent today than ever before. Digital technologies and the internet have not only spurred cybercrimes but also made them much more sophisticated. It is therefore requisite for law enforcement agencies to be agile skilled in the use of latest technology and adopt innovative methods to track, investigate and combat cybercrimes. He complimented NCRB for their efforts in promoting ‘Ease of living’.

Director informed that approximately 25000 Cyber Tipline Reports have been received so far and shared with States/UTs out of which 15 were of very high priority. As per details shared by States/UTs, 57 FIRs have already been registered, and investigation is in process for remaining Cyber Tipline Reports.  Senior officials from various police Organisations graced the occasion.

7-Aug-2017: NCRB merged with bureau of police research

The government has merged the National Crimes Records Bureau (NCRB) – which, over the years, has been the principal source of reference by policy makers, police, criminologists, researchers and media – both in India and abroad, with the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D). NCRB’s functions will now be placed under the Director General of BPR&D, who will oversee all the data collection related to Crime in India, Accidental Deaths and Suicides, Prison Statistics and Fingerprints.

It was felt that if the researchers of BPR&D, which conducts its own researches and commissions many to private institutes/bodies to study the crime patterns, policing and other related aspects, and statisticians of NCRB work together, there will be more accurate and research based data collection.

Some are not happy with the decision as both bureaus have different functions. NCRB’s core function is to collect data on crimes related to IPC and other sections, courts, convictions etc. which are taken from states and union territories and then analysed. On the other hand, BPRD’s research is not related to crime. It focusses more on research and data collection on how police, central paramilitary forces work, manpower problems, pattern of registration of crime, or influences of police on society etc. therefore, there is no clarity how both these organisations will work together.

The NCRB was established in 1986 with a mandate to empower Indian police with information technology solutions and criminal intelligence to enable them to enforce the law effectively. It also compiles data on crimes, prosecutions, traffic related prosecutions, and prisons, suicides etc. and its annual report were extensively globally to present India’s crime figures. The primary crime collection bureau also has the database of all the fingerprints in India and also plays a role in capacity building for government’s ambitious project – Crime and Criminal Tracking Networks and Systems (CCTNS). NCRB’s data on crimes against women, particularly rapes, has shaped government’s policies on safety of women in last few years.