In yet another reformative order on high-handedness of police and jail authorities, the Supreme Court of India expressed its concern as to why in the present modern and high-tch world, the jail authorities still await the postal receipt of Supreme Court orders on matters of Bails. The Apex Court on Friday wondered why in the era of the Internet, jail authorities continue to rely on ancient modes of communication to receive bail orders.
The apex court also emphasised that it will soon develop a secure electronic transmission mechanism for the jail authorities to access orders, for the expeditious release of prisoners.
A bench of Chief Justice N.V. Ramana and Justices L. Nageswara Rao and A.S. Bopanna made the observation during the hearing on a suo-motu case in connection with the delay in releasing convicts by prison authorities even after being granted bail by courts.
The Chief Justice said: “In this age of information and communication technology, we are still looking at the skies for the pigeons to communicate the orders.”
Alright, the court has taken such cognizance and issued such orders to put the system on right track and rightly felt to contemplate a system for secure orders of bail so that such orders can be sent electronically to jail authorities. But a similar outlook beyond the ambit of judicial orders of the Courts should also be ensured to plug the lacunae that the public authorities and police dig out by minutely scanning the judicial orders and finding excuses for not implementing the Court orders or delaying its executions.
The Supreme Court’s order delivered on Dec 02, 2020 directing the states and union territories to install CCTVs with night vision cameras in each police station is still fresh in public memory. How seriously the governments of states and UTs have taken this important judicial order having far-reaching consequences is a big question mark on the efficacy of Apex Court Orders in this country.
It is no secret from the public and the judiciary too as to how the suspects and common citizens are dealt with by the dens of Police Stations and other probe agencies such as CBI, ED, NIA etc across the country.
SC Order required that CCTV systems “must be equipped with night vision and must necessarily consist of audio as well as video footage” for which the SHO of the police station concerned shall be responsible for the working, maintenance and recording of CCTVs.
It also ordered the constitution of oversight committees at the state and district levels for this purpose.
Obliviously, the governments and the police and probing agencies do not like such orders that try to put some check on their unbridled powers to keep their authority to restrain anybody’s freedom they like and do whatever they want under the guise of law & order and above all the common accusation ‘stopping and interfering with the duty by public servant’. And they also know that most of their victim will not gather the courage to initiate any legal action against them. Had this order be in honest and effective execution, elements of delay, concoctions and manipulations by police in the bulk of cases would be to the minimum scale. How much progress is made on this issue, which comprises the much-needed Police reforms? God only knows it would be ever implemented in letter and spirit in this country to tame the police of its unbridled powers.
