Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems (Cctns) Scheme in India as a Strategic Framework For Swift And Easy Access To The First Information Report:

Mapping The Complexities

Abstract

First Information Report (“FIR”), the first account of the complainant’s story and prosecution’s narrative, is a crucial document in the criminal justice system. It is the key document for the prosecution to establish the genuineness of its case and for the accused to avail its remedies as available in law. The settled principle of law is that the First Information Report should always be filed promptly and without wasting any time. Considering all importance that the FIR holds, this research paper aims to find out the ready accessibility of the copy of FIR online using the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems (“CCTNS”) to all stakeholders of the Indian criminal justice system, primarily to the complainant, victim and the accused by first mapping the specific legal provisions and case laws to identify the significance of FIR in the criminal justice system and various concerns of privacy attached to the publication and easy and wide accessibility of FIR online. Secondly, by interviewing/interacting with the police officers at various levels of different states directly working for the CCTNS with an aim to identify the appropriate solutions to overcome the hurdles faced in easy and quick access to the FIR. Thus, incorporating both a doctrinal and an empirical component to the research, the authors via this research put forward several lacunas in the present mechanism of uploading of FIR as followed by various States besides providing for some of the best practices/or setting a forum for an easily accessible model that could be adopted after comparative evaluation of the implementation of the CCTNS scheme under various states in India.