*J&K among last 6 States in NCRB activity chart
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Sept 15: Jammu and Kashmir is ill-prepared to implement the directions of the Apex Court of the country regarding uploading of all the First Information Reports (FIRs) on the website of the Police Department within 24 hours of their registration. On one side there is no dedicated server or website for ensuring compliance to the directives and on the other side the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) has remained offline mainly because of lack of coordination between the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and J&K Police.
In an important order passed in a Writ Petition titled Youth Bar Association of India Versus Union of India and Others on September 7, 2016, a Supreme Court Bench comprising Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Chockalingam Nagappan has directed the Home Secretaries and Director Generals of Police of all the States and Union Territories to upload all the FIRs on the website of the Police Department within 24 hours of their registration.
“If there is no such website of the Police Department, the information shall be uploaded on the official website of the State Government as this step will solve many unnecessary problems being faced by the accused persons and their family members”, reads the order of the Supreme Court.
Keeping in view certain issues raised by some States, the Apex Court has clarified that in case there is connectivity problems due to geographical location or some other unavoidable difficulty, the time can be extended up to 48 hours, which can further be extended maximum up to 72 hours and the same is only relatable to connectivity problems due to geographical location.
Though the directions for uploading of FIRs on the website of all the States are required to be given effect from November 15, 2016, many States in the country have already developed this mechanism and the same is running successful, sources said while disclosing that Jammu and Kashmir is unlikely to ensure compliance to the Apex Court directions even from November 15 onwards as it has a long way to go to create a mechanism for the same.
“Though there are websites of the Police Headquarters and Home Department in Jammu and Kashmir but the same cannot be put to use for uploading all the FIRs of 215 Police Stations of the State because of technical reasons and due to voluminous load”, sources said, adding “at present there is no dedicated website for the purpose as no attention has so far been paid towards this aspect by the Police Department”.
In response to a question, sources said, “proper internet connectivity of all the 215 Police Stations of the State is foremost requirement for uploading of all the FIRs on any dedicated website to be created by the Police Department for the purpose”, adding “at present large number of Police Stations don’t have even the telephone connectivity and those Police Stations which were having the same in the past, stands disconnected at present due to non-payment of bills to the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited”.
“This is mainly because the JKP is claiming that BSNL has furnished exaggerated bills while as BSNL is claiming that the bills were strictly as per the usage”, sources said, adding “though both the organizations have reconciled their figures after series of meetings yet connectivity is yet to be restored because of certain conditions imposed by both the sides”.
Moreover, due to lack of coordination between BSNL and J&K Police Department even the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) of National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB), which functions under the control of Union Ministry of Home Affairs, could not be made online in the State till date, sources said.
They disclosed that out of total 215 Police Stations in Jammu and Kashmir CCTNS software has been deployed in 162 Police Stations as on August 31, 2016. Out of these 162 Police Stations, 126 Police Stations are using CCTNS software and they have registered 20117 FIRs using CCTNS software since 2013.
In the activity wise chart, the NCRB has placed J&K among the last six States in the country with overall percentage for compliance to the CCTNS provisions at 61. Moreover, only 42% of the Police Stations in J&K are filing FIRs under this system.
Because of all these reasons, J&K is unlikely to implement the directions of Supreme Court regarding uploading of FIRs within 24 hours of their registration, sources remarked.
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