New Delhi: In a bid to ensure faster communication and compliance with its orders across the nation, the Supreme Court Thursday said it would pass orders to implement its project — Fast and Secure Transmission of Electronic Records (FASTER), as states have already appointed nodal officers for its smooth functioning.
FASTER comes into being after the bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana took suo motu cognizance of delay in the release of convicts even after granting of bails on the grounds such as non-receipt or non-verification of the judicial orders.
The bench had then asked the Secretary-General of the apex court to frame the scheme in consultation with amicus curiae and senior advocate Dushyant Dave and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta for ensuring setting up of a secure, credible, and authentic channel for transmission of the orders for execution.
At the outset, the bench, also comprising Justices L Nageswara Rao and Surya Kant, was apprised by Dave that an outstanding report had been prepared by the Secretary-General on July 29.
Subject to the orders of this court, if the procedures are changed then the authenticated e-orders of the court will be sent faster, Dave said, adding that four states, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, and Nagaland, have some issues in their implementation due to some poor internet connectivity.
The scheme (FASTER) will ensure effective implementation of Article 21 (right to life) of the citizens and the nation should be grateful to you (CJI), Dave said.
Thank You, Mr Dave! Nation should be grateful to the institution and not to any individual, the CJI responded.
States have also nominated nodal authorities and four or five courts yesterday tried this and it (the scheme) has been successful, the CJI said and agreed to the submissions of Dave that an order under Article 142 (it permits SC to pass any order in the interest of justice) is needed to operationalize the FASTER.
Exasperated over reports on delay in implementation of bail orders, the apex court on July 16 had said that it would set up a secure, credible, and authentic channel for transmission of the orders for execution, saying in the digital age, we are still looking at the skies for the pigeons to communicate the orders.
The CJI-led bench was irked over the increasing number of reports regarding a delay in implementation of the orders passed by the top court and had taken suo motu cognizance of news reports of delay by Uttar Pradesh authorities in releasing 13 prisoners who were granted bail by it on July 8.
The convicts, who were juveniles at the time of offence were lodged in Agra Central jail for periods ranging from around 14 to 22 years in a murder case.
It had then sought a proposal from the Secretary-General on implementing a scheme aimed at revolutionizing the transmission of court orders to all concerned in a fast and secure manner.
The bench had also directed all the states to respond on availability of internet connection in jails across the nation as without this facility transmission of such orders to prisons will not be possible.
Christened FASTER, the innovative scheme is conceived for delivery of orders to concerned prisons, District Courts, High Courts, as the case may be, for instantaneous delivery of orders passed by apex court through a secure communication channel, the sources said about the system which would be implemented, the court sources had said.
This will save time and effort and will ensure that there are no delays in implementation of the orders passed by the Supreme Court, they had said about the FASTER.
The top court had appointed Dave as the amicus curiae for assisting it in implementing the scheme and asked the Secretary-General to coordinate with him before sending the proposal to the bench.
The Secretary-General would be also cooperating with the Solicitor General on the issue, it had said.
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