Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday said that implementing three new criminal laws is not the mandate of the elected government in Jammu and Kashmir, but the dispensation led by him needs to do more to create awareness about these provisions.
Talking to reporters here after attending a meeting called by Home Minister Amit Shah to review the implementation of the new criminal laws, Omar said, “As far as the elected government is concerned, it is not our responsibility to implement these laws. Since these are new laws, people should be aware of them. For this, the elected government needs to do more,” he said.
The CM added that J&K has done better in implementation but there are few weak areas which need to be fixed.
Omar said there was no discussion on security situation in Jammu & Kashmir during today’s meeting.
“I had discussed security matters relating to J&K during my recent meeting with HM (Amit Shah) on Parliament premises,” Omar said.
Omar expresses inability to comment on his exclusion from security reviews relating to the Union Territory.
“There is a difference between this meeting and those meetings. This meeting was about new laws and their implementation. If the decision has been made to exclude representatives elected by the people from security issues, what more can I say?” he said.
On the reaction of Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi over the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner, Omar said, “The LoP has the right to dissent in the selection meeting. Opposition does not need to always agree with the government. The matter (relating to the constitution of the selection committee for picking the CEC and election commissioners) is sub-judice in the Supreme Court.”
The high-level meeting chaired by the Union Home Minister to review the implementation of new criminal laws in Jammu & Kashmir was also attended by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and top officials from the central and J&K governments.
The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam replaced the colonial-era Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Code of Criminal Procedure CrPC) and the Indian Evidence Act of 1872 after new criminal laws came into effect from July 1 last year—(KNO)
