Before India's sweeping new criminal codes even took effect, Uttar Pradesh had already begun building the forensic backbone that those laws would demand — and on 5 November 2026, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's office announced the state has not just met its target, but surpassed it.

Quoting Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath directly, the post states: 'तीन नए आपराधिक कानूनों में स्पष्ट था कि सात वर्ष से ऊपर की किसी भी सजा के लिए फॉरेंसिक एविडेंस आवश्यक है।' ('The three new criminal laws made it clear that forensic evidence is mandatory for any offence carrying a sentence of more than seven years.') The government had set an internal target of 500 trained police officers. The final count: over 600.

What the new criminal laws actually demand

When Parliament passed the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam in December 2023 — replacing the colonial-era IPC, CrPC, and Indian Evidence Act — it inserted a binding scientific requirement: for any offence punishable by seven or more years, forensic evidence collection at the crime scene becomes mandatory. No forensics, potentially no conviction.

That single clause transformed the evidentiary standard for a large category of serious crimes, from assault and robbery to organised violence. It put enormous pressure on state police forces, most of which had no systematic forensic training pipeline in place. The laws came into force on 1 July 2024.

UPSIFS: UP's pre-emptive forensic strike

Uttar Pradesh's answer was the Uttar Pradesh State Institute of Forensic Science (UPSIFS), established before the new laws even cleared Parliament. The Chief Minister's office noted that the state had begun preparations proactively — 'नए कानून लागू होने से पहले ही' ('even before the new laws came into force') — recognising that training hundreds of field officers in evidence collection, preservation, and documentation could not be done overnight.

UPSIFS became the institutional vehicle for translating the new legal mandate into on-ground police capacity. The institute's training programme targeted hands-on forensic evidence collection: how to document, secure, and hand over evidence in a way that holds up under the new statutory standard.

600+ trained — and why the number matters

Clearing 600 officers past a target of 500 is not incidental. India's most populous state — and historically one of its most challenged in criminal justice outcomes — has made a verifiable, institution-backed investment in the machinery the new laws require. The broader national picture shows multiple states racing to build forensic infrastructure; UP is now signalling it crossed the finish line early.

The real test, however, comes in the courts. As conviction rates and case-disposal timelines under the new framework begin to accumulate, whether that training translates into watertight forensic evidence chains will tell the definitive story. For now, UP has the numbers — and an institute designed to keep producing them.