Supreme Court: In a writ of mandamus seeking direction to the Union of India and the States to upload each and every First Information Report registered in all the police stations within the territory of India in the official website of the police of all States, as early as possible, preferably within 24 hours from the time of registration, the Bench of Dipak Misra and C. Nagappan, JJ gave the following directions:
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A copy of the First Information Report at an earlier stage than as prescribed under Section 207 of the CrPC to be given to the accused.
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An accused, upon suspicion that his name may be included in the FIR, can submit an application through his representative for grant of a certified copy before the police officer concerned or to the Superintendent of Police on payment of fee payable for obtaining such a copy from the Court and such copy shall be made available to him within 24 hours.
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When, on an application being filed for certified copy on behalf of the accused, the FIR is forwarded by the police station to the Magistrate or any Special Judge concerned , the same shall be given by the Court concerned within two working days.
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The copy of the FIR, except in case of the offence of ‘sensitive’ in nature, like sexual offences, offences pertaining to insurgency, terrorism, etc., is to be uploaded on the police website or the official website of the State Government within 24 hours of the registration and within 48 hours in case of connectivity problems due to geographical location or there is some other unavoidable difficulty. The time can be extended up to a maximum of 72 hours due to connectivity problems due to geographical location. However, the Court clarified that the offences mentioned as ‘sensitive’ in nature are only illustrative and it is for the competent authority to decide sensitivity of the case.
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In case a copy of the FIR is not provided on the ground of sensitive nature of the case, an aggrieved person can submit a representation to the Superintendent of Police or any person holding the equivalent post in the State, after disclosing his identity. The Superintendent of Police or Commissioner of Police in Metropolitan cities shall constitute a committee of three officers, within 8 weeks of this order, which shall deal with the said grievance within three days from the date of receipt of the representation and communicate it to the grieved person.
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In cases wherein decisions have been taken not to give copies of the FIR regard being had to the sensitive nature of the case, it will be open to the accused/his authorised representative to file an application for grant of certified copy before the Court to which the FIR has been sent and the same shall be provided by the Court concerned not beyond three days of the submission of the application.
Stating that the directions for uploading of FIR in the website of all the States shall be given effect from 15th November, 2016, the Court, clarified that if an FIR is not uploaded, it shall not enure per se a ground to obtain the benefit under Section 438 of the CrPC that provides for anticipatory bail. [Youth Bar Association of India v. Union of India, 2016 SCC OnLine SC 914, decided on 07.09.2016]
while the Supreme Court’s decision is commendable, there remains an issue concerning the handling of personal information in FIRs. Police officials are uploading FIRs without the necessary redaction of details such as names, castes, and contact numbers. This practice warrants attention and action to ensure the protection of individuals’ privacy rights.