Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday, June 19, 2026 asserted that no criminal, however cunning, can evade the combined force of law and science — a statement that arrives against the backdrop of sweeping reforms to India's criminal justice framework that mandate forensic investigation as a standard policing tool.

Context

Shah posted on X: 'Regardless of how cunning criminals are they cannot escape the combined strength of law and science.' The remark, brief but pointed, encapsulates the philosophy driving the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) push to embed scientific methods into routine police work across India.

The statement comes roughly two years after three landmark criminal laws — the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam — replaced colonial-era codes in July 2024. A central feature of those laws is the mandatory forensic examination of crime scenes in cases where the offence attracts seven or more years of imprisonment.

Policy Backdrop

The compulsory forensic probe requirement, introduced through the new criminal codes enacted in December 2023, marked a structural shift: for the first time, scientific evidence collection became a legal obligation rather than an optional investigative step. The Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act, 2022 had already expanded the permissible collection of biological and biometric samples, laying the evidentiary groundwork that the 2023 codes built upon.

Institutional capacity has been scaled up in parallel. The National Forensic Sciences University (NFSU), established in Gandhinagar in 2020, was created specifically to train forensic professionals and provide scientific support to state police forces. Long-running infrastructure programmes such as the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) and expanded funding for Central Forensic Science Laboratories (CFSLs) have further deepened the technology backbone available to investigators.

The broader motivation is measurable: conviction rates for many serious offences in India have historically remained below 50 percent, a figure that policymakers argue can improve significantly when prosecutions are anchored in forensic evidence rather than relying predominantly on witness testimony.

Stakeholders and Impact

State police forces are the primary implementers of the new forensic mandates, and compliance varies. States must deploy trained forensic teams to crime scenes within stipulated timelines — a requirement that has exposed gaps in laboratory capacity and trained manpower in several jurisdictions. State governments have been pressed to invest in mobile forensic units and accredited labs to meet the statutory obligation.

For forensic laboratories — both central and state-run — the policy shift translates into a significant increase in case load. The NFSU and affiliated institutions have expanded intake of forensic science graduates to address the pipeline problem. Citizens and victims of crime stand to benefit if higher evidentiary standards translate into faster trials and stronger convictions.

What's Next

Attention will now turn to state-level compliance reports on mandatory forensic probes under the 2023 laws, with the next Union Budget expected to signal whether fresh allocations for forensic infrastructure are forthcoming. Shah's post reinforces that the political messaging around evidence-based policing will remain prominent as the new criminal codes complete their second year of operation. Any gap between legislative intent and ground-level implementation is likely to draw scrutiny from courts and civil society alike.