42 YEARS TO PUNISH A MAFIA

42 YEARS TO PUNISH A MAFIA

26-OCT-ENG

RAJIV NAYAN AGRAWAL

LUCKNOW-----------------------Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has highlighted serious delays in the justice system, stating that it took 42 years to secure conviction against a mafia who committed his first crime in 1980.

Speaking about the case, the Chief Minister said that when his government began applying pressure in 2017-18, the accused was transferred from Uttar Pradesh to Punjab. It then took three years of sustained effort, including litigation up to the Supreme Court, to bring him back. Once returned, evidence was presented and the conviction was finally secured after more than four decades.

Yogi Adityanath pointed out major systemic issues that caused such delays. Forensic samples in the case were nearly 10 years old by the time serious efforts began, and proper preservation of evidence had been a challenge. Earlier, Uttar Pradesh had only one forensic science laboratory for the entire state, which severely limited capacity.

He informed that his government has now established forensic science laboratories in 12 police ranges, with six more in the final stages of completion. The Chief Minister also referred to the introduction of three new criminal laws in the country and stressed the need for better systems to preserve evidence and speed up the judicial process so that ordinary citizens can regain faith in the system.