Time has come for Delhi Police to sharpen its technological skills: Delhi court in bail case

The time has come for Delhi Police to sharpen its skills as far as technology is concerned, a Delhi Court remarked in a bail matter where the updated status of the accused’s criminal record wasn’t known (State v. Surender)..The Court, therefore, directed the Commissioner of Police (CP), Delhi to ensure updation of data and its compliance..Additional Sessions Judge Sonu Agnihotri seemed unimpressed at the fact that the State Crime Record Bureau (SCRB) hadn’t been updated with data on the criminal records of undertrial prisoners (UTP).The Court, therefore, remarked, “It has been observed by this Court during present posting and earlier posting that generally involvement reports of UTPs as per SCRB record are not updated and time is usually sought by police officials to verify present updated status of cases wherein accused/UTP is shown to have been involved which lead to unnecessary delay in disposal of bail applications.”.In today's world, when almost every information is available on click of mouse, it is pathetic that Delhi Police is still not updating its record regularly on account of which disposal of bail applications of accused/UTPs are delayed."Additional Sessions Judge Sonu Agnihotri.The accused Surender cited his custody period of over three years as a ground for bail. His counsel Rizwan Ali informed the Court that the other accused in the case had been granted bail on January 23, 2021.He had been charged under Section 397 (robbery, or dacoity, with attempt to cause death or grievous hurt) and Section 394 (voluntarily causing hurt in committing robbery) with Section 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.Additional Public Prosecutor F M Ansari countered the defence's plea, arguing that the accused had seven more cases registered against him. Ali, however, countered that his client was being tried in three other cases, and that he had been either discharged or acquitted in the rest..The police officer concerned submitted that he was not aware of the exact status of cases pending against the accused and that Surender’s involvement report was filed on the basis of the records maintained by SCRB.He, therefore, sought time to file an updated current status of cases pending against the accused.The prosecutor, on the other hand, submitted that the records regarding previous involvement of UTPs was maintained by the Crime Record Office or CRO, Police Head Quarters..The Court highlighted that according to SCRB data, the accused was shown to be involved in cases from 2010, and found it “difficult to imagine” if cases such as theft were still be pending before trial courts.“I think time has come for Delhi Police to sharpen its skills so far as implementation of technology is concerned. Vide this order, I hereby direct CP, Delhi to get updated SCRB record of Judicial District South-East (which includes police stations from Police Districts South and South-East) so that in future, bail applications of UTPs are not delayed because of non-knowing of present status of cases pending against UTPs along with replies to bail applications of UTPs,” it ordered..A compliance report in this regard has to be filed on August 11, 2021. Taking into account the ground of parity, the Court noted Surender’s custody period and the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic situation to grant him bail.“Let copy of order be sent to CP, Delhi for information and compliance,” it stated..[Read order]