It is true that the Supreme Court has made it mandatory for the police to upload all FIRs on its website within 24 hours, barring some sensitive cases, in the directions issued in the case of Youth Bar Assn. of India v. Union of India, (2016) 9 SCC 473 : AIR 2016 SC 4136, the main extracts of which are as under:
“The copies of the FIRs, unless the offence is sensitive in nature, like sexual offences, offences pertaining to insurgency, terrorism and of that category, offences under the Pocso Act and such other offences, should be uploaded on the police website, and if there is no such website, on the official website of the State Government, within twenty-four hours of the registration of the first information report so that the accused or any person connected with the same can download the FIR and file appropriate application before the court as per law for redressal of his grievances. It may be clarified here that in case there is connectivity problems due to geographical location or there is some other unavoidable difficulty, the time can be extended up to forty-eight hours. The said 48 hours can be extended maximum up to 72 hours and it is only relatable to connectivity problems due to geographical location.”
“The directions for uploading of FIR in the website of all the States shall be given effect from 15-11-2016.”
Now, if some state police forces are not complying with these directions, then it is contempt of the court. It may first be desirable to request the concerned police authorities to comply with the above orders, in case they are not aware about them, and thereafter a contempt petition may be filed against them to ensure their compliance.
Dr. Ashok Dhamija is a New Delhi based Supreme Court Advocate and author of law books. Read more about him by clicking here. List of his Forum Replies. List of his other articles. List of his Quora Answers. List of his YouTube Videos.
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