Delhi High Court On Process Of Uploading Names Of Criminals On Public Platform

The Delhi High Court has sought a report from the Delhi Police on the procedure to be adopted for verification and uploading the names and details of proclaimed offenders on a public platform.

The High Court had earlier asked the National Informatics Centre (NIC) to develop software and other facilities for uploading the names and details of proclaimed offenders to enable citizens to assist the police with information regarding their whereabouts and help the State take further action against them.

However, at a recent hearing, the court was informed that a clarification was required as to the agency which would comply with the earlier direction.

Justice Amit Bansal said, "Let a brief report be filed by the DCP (Legal Division), Delhi Police with regard to the procedure to be adopted for verification and uploading the aforesaid data." The High Court listed the matter for further hearing in December.

It had earlier said the court-appointed committee headed by the Principal District and Sessions Judge (Headquarter) here shall monitor the implementation of its directions.

During the hearing, senior advocate Arun Mohan, who was appointed as amicus curiae in the matter, submitted that in the last meeting of the committee, it was noted there was some ambiguity with regard to one of the directions passed in the High Court's May judgment.

The ambiguity pertained to which agency was responsible for uploading the data of proclaimed offenders/ proclaimed persons, the high court noted.

The particular direction stated, "As far as uploading of data is concerned, the Delhi Police shall be responsible for uploading the data of proclaimed offender/ proclaimed persons declared by the courts in criminal cases registered by the Delhi Police." 

In the May verdict, the High Court said the data would be uploaded initially on the internal servers and later on the public platform to be developed by the NIC after verification.

The court had ordered the Delhi Police and the district courts shall be responsible for uploading the data of proclaimed offenders/ proclaimed persons in criminal cases and the Director/Charge of the Inter-operable Criminal Justice System shall ensure all possible technical and tactical support to the project.

The Inter-operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS) is an initiative of the e-Committee of the Supreme Court meant to enable the seamless transfer of data and information among different pillars of the criminal justice system, like courts, police, jails, and forensic science laboratories from one platform.

The court had also said at this stage, only data of proclaimed offenders in cases registered by Delhi Police and the accused who have been declared as proclaimed offenders/ proclaimed persons in private complaints filed directly in Delhi District Courts may be uploaded.

It added the data in relation to cases registered by other law enforcement agencies like the Central Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement Directorate may be uploaded after a gap of at least six months, subject to the final decision to be taken by the monitoring committee.

The National Informatics Centre (NIC) under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) is the technology partner of the Government of India. It was established in 1976 with the objective of providing technology-driven solutions to central and state governments in various aspects of development, according to the NIC website.

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