Shah inaugurates central forensic lab in Rajarhat

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Kolkata:
Amit Shah
said on Sunday the Centre will take a "holistic approach" to criminal justice from Jan 2026, through which India's criminal justice system will be "based on evidence rather than argument".
The Union home minister was speaking at the inauguration of a Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) in Rajarhat. The lab, spread across six acres, was built with an investment of Rs 90 crore.
"The Indian govt has started creating clusters of three-four states and developing their criminal justice system to become more evidence-based using CFSL facilities. We will develop a holistic approach that will be effective from Jan 2026.
Each police station will be able to avail the advantages of CFSL facilities," Shah said.
"The entire criminal justice system will be based on evidence rather than argument. Accused will not be freed only due to benefit of doubt," he added. The Union home minister said the CFSL network will assist states as state forensic science labs will be able to take expert opinion from CFSL facilities.
"Our transaction, communication, identity and basic details have already gone online.
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The nature of crime is changing fast, and we have to use science to stay ahead of criminals. Methods like mobile forensic, call detail analysis and psychological profiling are proving to be of immense help. We have already given a legal base to processes like using technology in crime scene investigation and trial," Shah added.
He further said that changed evidence laws, under the BNSS, now make it mandatory for the forensic science team to visit the crime scene for crimes that are liable for punishment for seven years and above.
Shah announced that nine new campuses of the National Forensic Sciences University (NFSU) will be built with an investment of Rs 1,300 crore. Seven new CFSL facilities will be built with an investment of Rs 860 crore across UP, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Bihar.
"We will bring development projects for forensic capacities with an investment of Rs 2,080 crore. A national forensic data centre will be prepared with an investment of Rs 200 crore.
We will use AI to analyse data in these centres," Shah said.
"All 17,184 police stations are connected by Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems . We are monitoring them online too. We will need forensic experts and infrastructure. Each district will be provided a forensic mobile van. We have already established the NFSU. We have 16 premises now, and 10 more NFSU colleges will come up. We will have 36,000 students holding diplomas, degrees and PhDs. We will have a steady supply of trained manpower," he added.

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