Assam government issued SOP for production of case diaries before courts

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The state government has issued a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) on the submission of case diaries in a bid to ensure speedier justice for accused persons languishing in jails and denied bail due to non-submission of case diaries by the police and other law-enforcement agencies.

The SOP was issued after partial modification of an earlier order of the state Home & Political Department and pursuant to the directions issued by the Gauhati High Court through an order dated March 1, 2023 in PIL (Suo Moto) No. 05/2020.

The state Home & Political Department has issued the SOP for effective submission of case diaries before the courts when called for and for return thereof, along with the SOP for assigning specific responsibility to the concerned Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) of the district organisations, under the general supervision of the Superintendent of Police (SP) of the districts or head of the organisation.

According to the order, all public prosecutors of the high courts and district courts are required to send the order copies or letters calling for case diaries to the designated ASP or Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (ADCP) of the district concerned, the commissionerate (crime/HQ), and organisations via wireless message, e-mail, or mobile phone directly, not to the officer-in-charge of the police station concerned.

The SOP stipulates that organizations like CID, Vigilance and Anti-Corruption, or CM’s Special Vigilance Cell, Bureau of Investigation Economic Offences (BIEO), Special Branch (SOU), and Special Task Force are now required to notify an officer in the rank of Addl. Superintendent of Police as the nodal officer to receive such orders, letters, emails, or messages and take action upon them.

The orders or emails are required to be sent at least five days ahead of the fixed date when the case diaries have to be put up before the court. All the Public Prosecutors (PPs) in the Courts have been requested to apprise the Courts regarding calling for case diaries from the Additional Superintendent of Police of the Crime/HQ of the district concerned and not from the Officer-in-Charge or the Investigating Officer, the SOP says.

The SP of the district head of the organisation, or Commissioner of Police, will now have to make an order detailing the ASP of the crime or HQ concerned, the ASP or ADCP of the organization concerned, to coordinate the entire matter. The SPs of the districts are to authorise the ASP (Crime/HQ) concerned with informing all PPs or assistant PPs in the courts, who will have to send information through email, phone, or order to the officer-in-charge (OC) of the police station (PS) concerned. The officer-in-charge concerned shall be instructed by ASPs to send the case diaries to the court on time, without fail, according to the SOP.

In cases of CID, BIEO, V&AC, etc., the Nodal ASP concerned will have to endorse the order or email sent to the OC of the PS, with strict instructions to send the case diaries in time.

Moreover, the OC of the police station shall be fully responsible for sending the case diaries to the courts on time after collecting the up-to-date case diaries from the investigating officer concerned and sending the same to the court with an intimation to the ASP concerned. The OC is also required to send a message about compliance to the PP of the High Court or the presiding officer of the court concerned.

To eliminate any delay, the up-to-date case diaries of all cases in a police station have invariably to be handed over to the OC when an Investigating Officer (IO) goes on leave or if he proceeds for duties in connection with VVIP visits, etc. The OC is to send these case diaries to the Court if called for, during the period of absence of the Investigating Officer, as the SOP also states. No excuse should be made by the OC for the delay in handing over the case diaries to the court in the absence of the IO.

The SOP also states that the OC shall detail a special dak runner who will take the case diaries with a duplicate of the proper challan and forward the same to the concerned PP or Addl. PP of the court.

After the date fixed for production of the case diaries is over, the PP concerned, the prosecuting inspector, or the prosecuting SI has to inform the ASP concerned through email or letter to take back the case diaries. The ASP of the district has to collect the case diaries centrally from the court within 48 hours of the receipt of information from the PP. On receipt of the case diaries at the SP office, the ASP has to inform the concerned OC of the PS and collect the same from the SP office within the next 24 hours.

The SOP further states that the PP has to intimate the orders passed by the respective court in relevant cases to the ASP, ADCP of the concerned district or organization for taking immediate necessary action.

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