{"id":268690,"date":"2023-11-09T20:02:42","date_gmt":"2023-11-09T14:32:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/?p=268690"},"modified":"2023-11-09T23:10:02","modified_gmt":"2023-11-09T17:40:02","slug":"on-e-fir-move-towards-e-fir-but-with-caution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/on-e-fir-move-towards-e-fir-but-with-caution\/","title":{"rendered":"On e-FIR \u2013 Move towards e-FIR, but with caution"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source: <\/strong>This post on e-FIR has been created based on the article \u201cMove towards e-FIR, but with caution\u201d<\/strong> published in The Hindu <\/strong>on 9th<\/sup> November 2023.<\/strong><\/p>\n

UPSC Syllabus Topic: GS Paper 2 Governance \u2013 <\/strong>E-governance \u2013 applications, models, successes, limitations, and potential.<\/p>\n

News<\/strong>:\u00a0This article discusses the concept of e-FIR. It also highlights the benefits and challenges associated with e-FIRs and suggests steps to tackle the same.<\/p>\n

What is an e-FIR?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The concept of \u2018e-FIR\u2019 includes obtaining information\/complaint through electronic means using a common national portal and then getting the information\/complaint signed by the complainant physically within a stipulated time to convert the complaint into an actual FIR.<\/p>\n

Read more about First Information Report (FIR)<\/strong> here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What does the Law Commission say about e-FIR? <\/strong><\/h2>\n

Law Commission of India Report No. 282 recommended that \u201cin cases where the accused is not known<\/strong>, registration of an e-FIR should be allowed for all cognisable offences\u201d.<\/p>\n

If the accused is known<\/strong>, as a preliminary step, registration of an e-FIR may be allowed for cognisable offences wherein the punishment provided under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and other laws is up to 3 years.<\/p>\n

In other cases (punishable with more than 3 years of imprisonment), the conventional method prescribed under the IPC needs to be followed.<\/p>\n

In the next step, the police officer is required to get the signature of the complainant within 3 days to register an e-FIR. Otherwise, the e-FIR shall not be registered.<\/p>\n

Read about Cognizable Vs Non-Cognizable Offences<\/strong> here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What are the benefits of e-FIR?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

First<\/strong>, the police will have to take cognisance of the complaint as the system will automatically generate receipt. This will ensure almost free registration of crime.<\/p>\n

Second<\/strong>, the police will not be able to change the contents of the complaint.<\/p>\n

What are the issues with the debate around e-FIR?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. Lack of clarity and awareness: <\/strong>The Commission has not clarified the concept of an \u2018e-FIR\u2019 in detail. The procedure in the report is given only for cases where the accused is known.<\/li>\n
  2. State models not discussed: <\/strong>Though the Commission mentioned that 8 States are lodging an e-FIR, it did not discuss any of the models adopted by those States.<\/li>\n
  3. No automatic registration of FIR:<\/strong> \u2018e-FIR\u2019 does not mean an automatic registration of an FIR using electronic means.<\/li>\n
  4. Lack of e-authentication technique: <\/strong>In case a paper-based signed complaint is to be replaced by an equivalent document in electronic form, one must affix electronic signature or use an e-authentication technique, for instance, like the one notified in the IT Act, 2000.
    \nHowever, the Commission has not discussed using the \u2018e-authentication technique or digital signature\u2019 as defined in the IT Act, 2000, for signing complaints.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    What should be done?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
      \n
    1. Mandating an e-authentication technique: <\/strong>It would be better if the use of an e-authentication technique is mandated for the verification of complainant.<\/li>\n
    2. Immediate registering of an e-FIR through e-authentication <\/strong>(and not the current delay of 3 days, which may impact the case).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Question for practice:<\/strong><\/p>\n

      Critically examine the role of E-FIRs in tackling the challenges of registration of FIRs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Source: This post on e-FIR has been created based on the article \u201cMove towards e-FIR, but with caution\u201d published in The Hindu on 9th November 2023. UPSC Syllabus Topic: GS Paper 2 Governance \u2013 E-governance \u2013 applications, models, successes, limitations, and potential. News:\u00a0This article discusses the concept of e-FIR. It also highlights the benefits and… Continue reading On e-FIR \u2013 Move towards e-FIR, but with caution<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10320,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1230,9],"tags":[300,212,10498],"class_list":["post-268690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-pm-daily-articles","category-public","tag-governance","tag-gs-paper-2","tag-the-hindu","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":{"total":17,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1699573779},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268690","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10320"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=268690"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268690\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}