By Dr. Adish C Aggarwala*
New Delhi: The Centre’s move to implement an Inter-Operable Criminal Justice System will make the system more robust and help to track criminals, solve crimes and make India a safer place. The long-standing need of mapping individuals who have a brush with the law is now going to be fulfiled with the revolutionary and ground-breaking Inter-Operable Criminal Justice System which is going to be implemented by Home Minister Amit Shah under the stewardship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
It is going to be a major leap forward by digitizing the criminal justice records and making them accessible to law enforcement agencies, laboratories and courts. This will not only make it far more difficult for persons to escape the consequences of their actions, but it will also ensure that none, either the guilty or the innocent, is forgotten and that justice is equally meted to all.
It will not only save time but also make the system more robust and help to track criminals, solve crimes and make India a safer place.
A major lacuna in the criminal justice system, as it exists today, stems from the fact that vital information is spread into isolated databases that are neither accessible nor integrated with other pillars, which are left groping in the dark when faced with grave crimes.
Ingenious criminals take advantage of this by manipulating and presenting distorted versions before the different stakeholders. In absence of an efficient system to track him, a person can go scot-free after committing a crime by simply assuming a fake identity. A person released on bail can escape trial by simply changing his address.
The worst placed are victims of non-cognizable offences or others who have to pursue their complaints in court by themselves. They have the arduous task of finding the address of the offenders by themselves, getting the accused persons served with the summons and ensuring their appearance in court till the case culminates into a final judgment. Any time during the trial, the said person may escape the system by simply changing his address and not disclosing the new address.
A shrewd criminal operating under different names and identities manages to hoodwink the system and it is well nigh impossible to bring such persons to justice. It is not possible for the police to constantly monitor the activities and whereabouts of all accused persons who are not in prison.
The criminal laws of India have been framed at a time when social ties were strong and every individual was known to the community. At that time, a person who shifted to a different place could be tracked with the aid of relatives and other persons in localities.
Today, this is no longer possible and, therefore, there is a crying need for the system to track individuals without depending upon local cues, as has been formulated in other developed countries.
*The writer is a senior advocate and chairman, All India Bar Association (AIBA), and former vice chairman of Bar Council of India. The write-up represents AIBA’s views.
