- Prelims: Supreme Court, FIR, e-FIR, Law Commission of India, Adhar, IT Act 2000, etc
- Mains GS Paper I and II: Statutory, regulatory and various quasi-judicial bodies, Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability etc
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
- The Law Commission of India, in Report No. 282, recommended that “in cases where the accused is not known, registration of an e-FIR should be allowed for all cognisable offenses”
INSIGHTS ON THE ISSUE
Context
What is a FIR?
- It is a report of information that reaches the police first at that point of time and that is why it is called the First Information Report.
- It is a complaint lodged with the police by the victim of a cognizable offense or by someone on his/her behalf.
- Anyone can report the commission of a cognizable offense either orally or in writing.
e-FIR:
- It is obtaining information/complaint through electronic means using a common national portal
- getting the information/complaint signed by the complainant physically within three days to convert the complaint into an actual FIR.
- ‘e-FIR’ is not an automatically registered FIR using electronic means, including electronic signature of the complainant.
- The online facility will have only limited efficacy.
- Any investigation done prior to the actual registration of the FIR shall not be an investigation undertaken in the true spirit of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
- In e-FIR, the complainant does not have to visit the police station; rather they can register their complaint through a mobile app or the police’s online network.
- Once an FIR is filed, designated investigating officers will contact the complainant.
- This initiative is being implemented partially in Delhi, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.
Law Commission Report on e-FIR:
- If the accused is known, as a preliminary step, registration of an e-FIR may be allowed for cognisable offenses
- wherein the punishment provided under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and other laws is up to three years.
- The verification of the complainant could be done by verifying the mobile number through an OTP and mandating the uploading of valid ID proof such as Aadhaar.
- The name of the suspect on the centralized national portal is to be secured until the e-FIR is signed by the complainant.
- In case the registered information is not signed by the informant deliberately within the prescribed time, the information shall be deleted within two weeks.
Procedure for e-FIR laid down in the Report:
- The police station will check the contents of information received from the portal to verify whether a cognisable offense is made out as recommended.
- The received information will be entered in the prescribed format within three days.
- In other cases (punishable with more than three years of imprisonment), the conventional method prescribed under the IPC needs to be followed.
- Police officer is required to get the signature of the complainant within three days to register an e-FIR.
- Otherwise, the e-FIR shall not be registered
- reasons shall be communicated
- The said information shall be automatically deleted after two weeks from the portal.
- The procedure is given only for cases where the accused is known.
Benefits of obtaining complaints electronically:
- The police will have to take cognisance of the complaint as the system will automatically generate receipts.
- This will ensure almost free registration of crime.
- They will not be able to change the contents of the complaint.
Issues with the report:
- Most of the eight States are registering FIRs using the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems or State portals
- Mostly in property offenses where the accused is unknown
- The Law Commission has recommended e-FIR for all cognisable offenses where the accused is not known, without discussing other related aspects.
- For example: The accused may initially be unknown in a case of kidnapping where not only immediate medical examination of the victim may be important
- Interaction with a police officer is valuable in solving blind crimes.
- An experienced police officer may extract a lot of information from the complainant or victim, which may help in finding the culprit.
- Though the option to approach a police station for reporting any cognisable offense shall always be open
- The legally permissible period of three days may give a false impression to a common man that it will not affect his case in that period.
- The complainant may not understand the nuances of a crime.
- The Commission has not discussed using the ‘e-authentication technique or digital signature’ as defined in the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000, for signing complaints.
- Under the Act, any information ‘rendered or made available in an electronic form
- accessible so as to be usable for a subsequent reference’ is legally acceptable.
- Any electronic record can be authenticated by ‘such electronic signature or electronic authentication technique which is considered reliable.
Way Forward
- In case a paper-based signed complaint is to be replaced by an equivalent document in electronic form
- one must affix electronic signature or use e-authentication technique notified by the government in the Second Schedule to the IT Act.
- ‘e-authentication: It is widely used by the income tax department to facilitate filing of returns electronically.
- The law also recognises ‘digital signature’ which uses an asymmetric cryptosystem and hash function.
- Without affixing digital signatures or using e-authentication techniques, an electronic record transmitted to the police would legally be considered not more than an unsigned complaint.
- It would be better if the use of e-authentication techniques is mandated for the verification of the complainant, and an e-FIR is registered immediately.
QUESTION FOR PRACTICE
Critically examine the Supreme Court’s judgment on ‘National Judicial Appointments Commission Act, 2014’ with reference to appointment of judges of higher judiciary in India.(UPSC 2017) (200 WORDS, 10 MARKS)
