Disclaimer: This has been reported after the availability of the order of the Court and not on media reports so as to give an accurate report to our readers.
Allahabad High Court: In a bail application, the Single Judge Bench of Arun Kumar Singh Deshwal, J., took note of the poor enforcement of the Inter-Operable Criminal Justice System (“ICJS”) and issued detailed directions for its implementation.
Background
The present bail application was filed by the accused and his co-accused in an FIR filed against him under Sections 109(1) and 115(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, for beating the first informant.
On 20-11-2025, the Court noted that the ICJS, wherein direct access was given to different stakeholders to access data, had been implemented in the entire country. However, despite the implementation of ICJS, the District Court had no access to the District Crime Records Bureau (“DCRB”) or State Crime Records Bureau (“SCRB”) to obtain the criminal history of the accused.
The Court opined that if direct access was given to the office of the Government Advocate of the High Court through ICJS to the police portal and DCRB or SCRB, then the case diary already available on the police portal and the criminal history on DCRB could be obtained within a few hours. Currently, this process takes more than two weeks to obtain the required materials from the relevant police station.
The Court stated that in another case, it had directed the Additional Director General (“ADG”)(Technical) and the National Informatics Centre (“NIC”) to give such access to the office of the Government Advocate, but no access was given.
The ADG informed the Court that the National Crime Records Bureau was responsible for the implementation of the ICJS project in association with NIC as technology partner. Therefore, the police had no role except assisting the NCRB or NIC in the implementation of ICJS. The Court was further informed that ICJS-2.0 will be launched within a few months. Once it is implemented, the problems regarding obtaining the necessary instructions or other data from the police department in criminal matters will be automatically resolved.
The NIC informed the Court that the ICJS had been properly implemented in Madhya Pradesh; thus, they would attempt to coordinate with the authorities concerned to implement it in Uttar Pradesh. Furthermore, ICJS 2.0 would allow the Joint Director (Prosecution) at the High Court of Allahabad to easily access the data available on different portals, including the case diary and other materials.
The Director General of Prison, UP, also informed that he had instructed all the District Jail Superintendents to make an entry of the inmates on the e-prison portal at the time of their induction in jail so that whenever the Court sends a release order through electronic mode (BOMS), it could be easily sent without any error.
On 09-12-2025, the Court perused the 2023 directions of the Supreme Court e-committee, wherein the Court requested all the High Courts, including the Allahabad High Court, to engage the services of an IPS Officer for the integration of data on the ICJS platform. The Court also requested the High Courts to appoint one Nodal Officer to ensure that, apart from the police, other State functionaries were also part of the ICJS project. However, the Court noted that to date, the IT/computer section of the High Court had not taken any step to apprise the State Government to appoint an IPS Officer, and neither was any nodal officer appointed to deal with other State functionaries.
The Court opined that the present nodal officer, who had been appointed at Prayagraj in pursuance of the order of a Coordinate Division Bench, may also be assigned the work for the integration of data available on the ICJS platform as desired by the e-committee.
The Court remarked that the ICJS project was implemented in 2009; thousands of crores had been earmarked, and more than 16 years had passed, but this project was still slow in progress. Therefore, there was an urgent requirement to expedite the implementation of the ICJS project.
“ICJS has been established to make the justice delivery system more effective by integrating the main pillars of criminal justice, i.e., the police (CCTNS), courts (e-courts), jails (e-prisons), forensic lab (e-forensic), and prosecution (e-prosecution). This process would require data to be entered into the system only once (One Data One Entry), and various databases available could be used for criminal investigation in a joint manner.”
Considering the Central government notification that integration between the Courts, prisons, and CCTNS had to be done and ensured at the State level, the Court stated that the State Government was also responsible for the proper implementation and integration of ICJS.
Thereafter, the Court remarked that due to non-implementation of ICJS, the gang charts under Rule 5 of the UP Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Rules, 2021, were not being uploaded to ICJS, and summons could not be served properly through ICJS under Rule 31(3) of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita Rules, 2024.
Accordingly, the Court had issued the following directions:
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The Chief Secretary, UP, shall nominate IPS Mohd. Irfan Ansari, working as nodal officer at Allahabad High Court, or any other IPS Officer whom he may deem fit as an officer to work as instrumental for the integration of data available at the ICJS platform.
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The Director General, NCRB, New Delhi, the nodal agency for implementation of the ICJS project, should take immediate steps for effective implementation of the ICJS project in UP.
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The Chief Secretary, UP, shall ensure that sufficient staff is provided to the office of the Joint Director, Prosecution, Allahabad High Court, as early as possible.
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The Director General of Police, UP, shall issue necessary directions regarding sending of instructions in bail matters and other criminal matters to the Joint Director (Prosecution) through electronic mode on his email ID instead of sending manually through a pairokar.
On the next date, the Court was informed that a compliance report had been filed by the State and a DG circular had been issued by the Director General of Police. The circular directed all distriict police chiefs to send instructions in criminal matters through electronic mode on the ID of the Joint Director (Prosecution) High Court instead of sending the same through pairokar.
Analysis and Decision
At the outset, the Court appreciated the Director General of NIC for his contribution in several other cases in rolling out “E-Summon” Project and “BOMS (Bail Order Management System)” in district courts of U.P. as well as implementation of ICJS in coordination with NIC, Allahabad High Court unit. The Court also appreciated the Joint Director (IT), NIC, Allahabad High Court for consistent contribution in cooperation with the CPC, Allahabad High Court and ADJ(Technical) UP for effective implementation of NSTEP Project and BOMS in UP.
On merit, the Court noted that as per the FIR and statements of the parties, the injuries were simple in nature, and the accused had been languishing in jail since 12-10-2025. Thus, considering the facts and circumstances of the case, crowded jails, heavy pendency of criminal cases before Trial Courts, and the judgement in Kapil Wadhawan v. Central Bureau of Investigation1, as well as without expressing any opinion on the merits of the case, the Court opined that the accused was entitled to be enlarged on bail.
Accordingly, the Court allowed the application and granted bail on the condition that he shall furnish a personal bond and two sureties each in the like amount, to the satisfaction of the court concerned, along with other conditions.
The Court directed the Trial Court to send the release order to the concerned jail through BOMS to ensure early release of the accused.
[Ratvar Singh v. State of U.P., Criminal Misc. Bail Application No. – 41021 of 2025, decided on 18-12-2025]
Advocates who appeared in this case:
For the petitioner: Saurabh Pandey
For the respondent: Akhilesh Kumar Yadav
1. SLP No. 16953 of 2025