What are new provisions for police officers under BNSS?

Sub: Polity

Sec: legislation in news

Context:

The new criminal laws have become effective from July 1.
SOPs have been issued by the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD) to guide police officers in implementing the new provisions.

New provisions for police officers

Rules for registering FIRs:

Under Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) section 173 provides for registration of FIR irrespective of jurisdiction.
The officer in-charge of a police station cannot refuse to register an FIR on the basis of lack of jurisdiction or disputed jurisdiction.
He is legally bound to register (popularly known as a zero FIR) and transfer such a case to the respective police station.
The information can be given orally, written or in electronic mode.
The electronic mode by which information may be given must be decided by the agencies, such as the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) portal, the police website or officially published email IDs.

Rules for videography:

The BNSS mandates videography during a search conducted by the police under Section 185.
A cloud-based mobile app, ‘eSakshya’ has been designed by the National Informatics Centre for enforcement agencies, which allows capturing multiple photos and videos.
Since eSakshya is an initiative under the Inter-operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS), this data will be available to other agencies such as the judiciary, prosecution and cyber forensic experts.

Provisions of arrest:

Information about arrested persons is to be mandatorily displayed in police stations.
Section 37 of the BNSS requires a police officer in every police station, not below the rank of Assistant Sub-Inspector, to be responsible for maintaining and prominently displaying information about the arrested persons.
Boards (including in digital mode) containing names, addresses and the nature of the offense must be put up outside police stations and district control rooms.
Permission of an officer not below the rank of DySP is mandatory for arresting a person charged with an offense punishable for imprisonment of less than three years if such person is infirm or is above 60 years of age.
Law now provides for the use of handcuffs in certain cases, the IOs(Investing Officer) must use them cautiously.

Rules related to timelines:

In case of medical examination of a victim of rape, the registered medical practitioner need to forward the medical report to the IO within seven days.
The investigation of POCSO cases is required to be completed within two months of recording the information of the offense.

Rules regarding terrorism:

Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) defines what is a ‘terrorist act’ and imposes the duty on an officer, not below the rank of Superintendent of Police (SP), to decide whether to register a case under this Section or the UAPA.