Allahabad High Court Directs UP Police To Send Instructions By E-mail In Criminal Cases, Calls For Immediate ICJS Integration

A bench of Justice Arun Kumar Singh Deshwal directed thus, noting that under the current manual system, there are significant delays in receiving instructions from police stations in criminal matters.

For context, the bench was apprised that as per the prevailing practice, once a bail notice is received, it is handed to the district police 'Pairokar' who visits the Government Advocate's office daily.

Further, the Pairokar then travels to the district SP office, which distributes the notice to the concerned police station, and the concerned IO then obtains the case diary or copies it if the charge sheet isn't filed, prepares comments and sends it all back through the Pairokar to the High Court.

Justice Deshwal noted that since the matter of bail relates to the liberty of a person, this manual cycle is "nothing but wastage of time of police personnel and public money”.

These observations were made by the bench while hearing a bail petition filed by Ratvar Singh. During the hearing, the HC held a comprehensive dialogue with senior technical and police officials of the state regarding delays and the implementation of the Interoperable Criminal Justice System (ICJS).

The officers included: Naveen Arora (ADG Technical, UP), Shashi Kant Sharma (Deputy Director General, NIC, New Delhi) and PC Meena (Director General of Prison, UP)].

Explaining the project's philosophy, the Court noted that ICJS is based on the principle of "One Data One Entry", meaning that data entered once by police is seamlessly available to Courts, Jails, and Forensic Labs.

In its order passed on December 9, the Court noted that while District Courts can access the CCTNS portal for FIRs and charge sheets, they lack access to the District Crime Record Bureau (DCRB) or State Crime Record Bureau (SCRB) for the criminal history of an accused.

The Court expressed the view that if the office of the Government Advocate is given direct access via ICJS to police portals and DCRB databases, the case diaries and criminal histories could be obtained within a few hours. In contrast, it currently takes more than two weeks.

Officer Arora informed the bench that ICJS-2.0 is scheduled to launch within a few months, which will automatically resolve data access issues for the prosecution.

However, the bench believed that it would not be appropriate to wait indefinitely for the full rollout of ICJS-2.0 and, therefore, as a "stopgap arrangement", it directed the DGP to ensure that instructions in bail and other criminal matters are sent to the Joint Director (Prosecution) at the High Court on the designated email ID (jdhcprosecutionah-UP@nic.in).

Furthermore, the Court directed the Chief Secretary of U.P. to ensure that "sufficient staff be provided" to the office of the Joint Director (Prosecution).

Essentially, the Joint Director, Prosecution, submitted that he is ready to provide information to the Government Advocate's Office or the concerned A.G.A., regarding the filing of a charge sheet or other material, including the instructions in bail.

The court passed this direction as it noted that his office is currently running with only five persons, and the Joint Director explicitly submitted that he requires "five more persons" for effective functioning. The Chief Secretary has been directed to conduct this exercise at the earliest opportunity.

The Court also addressed the integration of data on the ICJS platform. It directed the Chief Secretary to nominate an IPS officer to integrate data from the ICJS platform.

This direction was issued in accordance with the e-Committee of the Supreme Court's directive to ensure that, in addition to the police, other state functionaries, such as the forest department and municipal authorities, also become part of the ICJS project.

The bench also expressed concern that although the ICJS project was implemented in 2009 and "thousands of crores have been earmarked," the progress remains slow after more than 16 years.

The Court clarified that while the NCRB is the nodal agency, a 2015 Ministry of Home Affairs circular holds the State Government responsible for integration at the state level.

The Court also pointed to Rule 5 of the U.P. Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Rules, 2021 which mandates the uploading of gang charts on ICJS and CCTNS; however, due to the lack of integration, these charts are not being uploaded.

Similarly, the Court referred to Rule 31(3) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) Rules, 2024, which provides for the service of summons through electronic systems like ICJS or N-STEP. The Court observed that the summons could not be served properly because of the incomplete implementation of ICJS.

DG Prison Meena also informed the Court that instructions have been issued to make entries of inmates on the 'e-prison portal' so that electronic release orders (BOMS) can be processed without error.

Though the bench appreciated the assistance of the senior officers present, the Court directed the Director General, NCRB, to take immediate steps for the effective implementation of the project in Uttar Pradesh.

Further, on the merit of the specific bail application of the petitioner, the matter was adjourned to December 18, to allow the AGA to produce a supplementary injury report.