The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed all States and Union Territories to upload FIRs on the official police websites within 24 hours of its registration in order to end the hassles general public faced to obtain a copy of FIR. The said order will be implemented with effect from November 15, 2016 onwards.
This is the first time such a direction has come from the apex court, although High Courts at Allahabad, Delhi and Himachal Pradesh have issued similar orders in the past.
The Bench of Justices Dipak Misra and C Nagappan was convinced that the petitioner espoused a public interest cause and ordered that except in cases involving terrorist attack, insurgency, or sexual offences involving children or women are involved, in all cases where a FIR is lodged by the police, it shall be uploaded on the police website within 24 hours of registration. If such a website does not exist, the same will be uploaded on the State/UT website, the bench said. In remote areas, this period was extended to 72 hours.
The exceptions were made keeping in mind the sensitive nature of investigations involved in insurgency or terrorist acts and the need to protect the identity of victims of sexual offences. However, in remote areas, the bench agreed to grant extended time on account of connectivity problem owing to geographical location. The police will have power to refuse making a FIR public citing the "sensitive" nature of the case. This decision of the police can be challenged by an aggrieved citizen before a court of law.
The direction came on a PIl filed by the Youth Bar Association of India, a body of lawyers based in Uttarakhand. The petitioner claimed that FIR, though being a public document, is never made available to a citizen, who is either a complainant or against whom a case is lodged. The petitioner proposed to the Court that based on past decisions of the High Courts, it should be made mandatory to upload FIRs on websites of police organisations to avoid hassles to general public.
In 2010, the Delhi High Court had ordered mandatory uploading of FIR on the Delhi Police website. Of late, this order has even been made applicable to Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh through separate orders issued by Allahabad HC on November 19, 2015 and Himachal HC in January 2015.