Chandigarh: The office of Haryana advocate general (AG) has launched a pilot project to cut down on the number of personal appearances of the investigating officers (IOs) before the Punjab and Haryana High Court in criminal cases.
Initially, Sector 20 police station of Panchkula has been identified to launch the project. After its successful implementation, the same would be replicated at other police stations in the entire state.
This is the third information, communication and technology (ICT) enabled initiative from the AG office that would help in reducing the number of personal appearances of around 50,000 IOs per year in the High Court in criminal cases. Haryana AG B R Mahajan said his office is keen to use the technologies in routine work to save time and money of the court and the state government. The new project has been designed to curb unnecessary appearances of IOs in the court. At the same time, this would help in reducing delay in the disposal of cases. It would also cause less inconvenience to police and law officers as well as reduce the financial burden on the state exchequer, he added.
Officials of the AG office said personal appearance of the IO would be required only in those cases where original police file of the case will be required. Also in cases where the HC has passed specific orders, they would be asked to appear.
At present, IOs had to furnish particulars of a criminal case in a prescribed proforma before appearing in the court. This proforma is being used by the law officers as well as IOs to make the required information readily available at the hearing.
Now, the concerned Naib Court or MHC or data entry operator would have to furnish details of the case in this proforma and forward the same to the AG office through Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems (CCTNS). This would not only facilitate the law officers in the cases but would also bring down the number of unnecessary appearance of IOs.
A team of 13 officers under the supervision of deputy commissioner of police (DCP), Panchkula and an assistant commissioner of police (ACP), Panchkula, have been selected to successfully implement this project. Two law officers posted at the AG office have also been associated with the project.
