New Delhi, Feb. 18 -- Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday emphasized urgent necessity of enforcing "trial in absentia" provisions as well as full implementation of new criminal laws in Jammu and Kashmir by April 2025 during a meeting with the Union Territory's Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha.

During the meeting, Shah asked the UT administration for optimum use of technology to ensure speedy justice under the three new criminal laws-- the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023; Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023; and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA), 2023; that replaced the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), and the Indian Evidence Act, respectively.

He said th...