The Supreme Court of India delivered yet another important judgment in the case of Youth Bar Association of India vs Union of India in Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 68 / 2016. The Judgment was delivered on 7th September 2016 by a Bench comprising Justice Dipak Misra and Justice C. Nagappan. In this judgment, the Hon'ble Court laid down guidelines for making available the copy of FIR (First Information Report) by the police to the affected / aggrieved persons at the earliest. Some of the guidelines laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court are as under :
1. An accused who has reasons to suspect that he has been
roped in a criminal case and his name may be finding place in a First
Information Report can submit an application through his
representative/agent/parokar for grant of a certified copy before the concerned
police officer or to the Superintendent of Police on payment of such fee which
is payable for obtaining such a copy from the Court. On such application being
made, the copy shall be supplied within twenty-four hours.
2. Once the First Information Report is forwarded by the
police station to the concerned Magistrate or any Special Judge, on an
application being filed for certified copy on behalf of the accused, the same
shall be given by the Court concerned within two working days.
3. 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 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. 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.
4. The decision not to upload the copy of the FIR on the website
shall not be taken by an officer below the rank of Deputy Superintendent of
Police or any person holding equivalent post. In case, the States where
District Magistrate has a role, he may also assume the said authority. A
decision taken by the concerned police officer or the District Magistrate shall
be duly communicated to the concerned jurisdictional Magistrate.
5. In case a copy of the FIR is not provided on the ground
of sensitive nature of the case, a person grieved by the said action, after
disclosing his identity, can submit a representation to the Superintendent of
Police or any person holding the equivalent post in the State. The
Superintendent of Police shall constitute a committee of three officers which
shall deal with the said grievance. As far as the Metropolitan cities are concerned,
where Commissioner is there, if a representation is submitted to the
Commissioner of Police who shall constitute a committee of three officers. The
committee so constituted shall deal with the grievance within three days from
the date of receipt of the representation and communicate it to the aggrieved
person.
6. 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 8 authorized representative/parokar 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 in quite promptitude by the concerned
Court not beyond three days of the submission of the application.
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7. The directions for uploading of FIR in the website of all
the States shall be given effect from 15th November, 2016. 13.
This is an important judgment which every person in India should know.
Here is the official link to the Full text of the Judgment :
