Akansha Upadhyay
Published on – 06 December 2022 at 19:43 IST
In a significant development, the Orissa High Court directed the Director General of Police, Odisha (DGP) to explore the possibility of registration of ‘e-First Information Reports (e-FIRs)’ in the state.
The single judge bench of Justice Sanjib Kumar Panigrahi was hearing a criminal miscellaneous petition filed by a woman, who had approached the High Court for not registering an FIR based on her complaint.
Selja Nandan Das, Addl. standing counsel for the State submitted that in the meantime the said complaint has been registered as an FIR. Therefore, the Court finds that the grievance of the petitioner has been redressed.
However, with regard to the increasing cases of crimes against women and institutional slowness in prompt registration of FIRs, the Court directed:
“The Director General of Police, Odisha is directed to explore the possibility of registration of e-FIR in the State. The registration of e- FIR especially in cases of crimes against women will go to a long way in combating crimes against women and ensure better women safety and security. He is also directed to file the reply before this Court within fifteen days regarding possibility of having a system of registration of e-FIR in the State.”
The DGP has also been directed to file response on the above proposal within fifteen days. The matter is now listed for further hearing on 5th January 2023.
Case Title: JP v. State of Odisha & Ors.