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Source: The post is based on the article “Home Ministry develops online module for timely disposal of criminal cases” published in The Hindu on 15th April 2023
What is the News?
The Ministry of Home Affairs(MHA) e-prosecution portal has added a new feature that will fix the accountability of government lawyers. The system will send alerts to senior officers whenever a public prosecutor seeks a stay in a criminal case more than twice.
What is an E-Prosecution portal?
The E-Prosecution portal is managed by the Government of India under the Digital India Mission.
The portal facilitates communication between the police department and the prosecution directorate as part of the Interoperable Criminal Justice System (ICJS).
It links and enables the seamless transfer of data and information among different pillars of the criminal justice system — such as courts, police, jails and forensic science laboratories — from one platform.
What are the other steps being taken to strengthen the criminal justice system?
The Ministry of Home Affairs is working to overhaul the British-era Indian Penal Code. One of the changes being considered was making the collection of forensic evidence compulsory in criminal cases punishable by more than six years in prison.
The Ministry also tracks investigations into sexual assault cases across the country, every two months through its analytics tool, the Investigation Tracking System for Sexual Offences. This system was launched in 2018.
Note: The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2018 amended Section 173 of the Code of Criminal Procedure to provide for the completion of investigation in rape cases within two months.
