Nainital, Sep 23 The Uttarakhand High Court on Wednesday disposed of a petition challenging the closure of a public portal that allowed online viewing of FIRs registered by the state police.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Manoj Kumar Gupta and Justice Subhash Upadhyay issued the order after members of the Uttarakhand Police's technical team appeared in person and explained how citizens could view registered FIRs online.
The Haridwar-based National Public Trust filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking to restore the facility to view FIRs online, which had been suspended for a long time.
Police officials told the court that FIRs can be viewed through the 'Citizen' and 'Devbhoomi' applications. However, they noted that this facility is currently available only on Android phones and is not available on Apple phones. The officials explained that users must first download and log in to the 'Devbhoomi' app. Subsequently, they need to provide the required information and upload a selfie. Once this process is complete, the user can view and download the FIR, they said.
Police officials also presented a live demonstration of this entire process before the court. In an earlier hearing, the High Court questioned the police department about its failure to comply with the Supreme Court directives on public access to FIRs.
The Supreme Court directed that, barring certain exceptions, FIRs should be uploaded online after registration so that the general public can view them.
Taking the matter seriously, the High Court warned that if the online facility were not restored, the Director General of Police (DGP) of Uttarakhand would have to appear personally before the court at the next hearing.
