E-Paper
Top court launches digital platform for secure transmission of its orders
The software, called ‘Fast and Secured Transmission of Electronic Records’ (FASTER), will be used to communicate interim orders, stay orders and bail orders passed by the Supreme Court to the concerned authorities through a secured electronic communication channel.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday launched a digital platform to ensure that all its orders on bail and the release of prisoners are digitally transmitted straight to jails and concerned high courts through a secured network that will involve no third-party interference.
The software, called ‘Fast and Secured Transmission of Electronic Records’ (FASTER), will be used to communicate interim orders, stay orders and bail orders passed by the top court to the concerned authorities through a secured electronic communication channel.
Inaugurating the project, Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana said, “The orders passed by the Supreme Court or any courts can be now transmitted safely without interference by any party. This will ensure confidentiality, safety and security of our orders. In the second phase, we can even transmit records physically.”
“In this way, without loss of much time, such orders would be received by all concerned for necessary action at their end,” the CJI said.
Supreme Court judges justice AM Khanwilkar, justice Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud —the chairman of the top court’s e-committee — and justice Hemant Gupta participated in the event, along with the chief justices of various high courts.
The apex court embarked on this venture after taking cognizance of a July 2021 newspaper report, which said that convicts lodged in Agra Central Jail, who were to be released after securing interim bail from the Supreme Court, remained in jail for three days as the order of the top court could not be communicated to the jail authorities.
A bench headed by CJI Ramana had observed, “In this modern era of technology, why are we still looking at the skies for pigeons to deliver our orders.”
Soon after, the court asked the solicitor general Tushar Mehta and senior advocate Dushyant Dave to prepare a legal framework for FASTER in coordination with the secretary general of the Supreme Court. Judges of the Supreme Court e-Committee monitored it along with officials of SC registry. A total of 73 nodal officers at the level of jails, high courts, and states/UTs were nominated to be point persons for the transmission of communication, and a total of 1,887 e-mail IDs were created as part of a secured judicial communication network for transmitting digitally signed orders of the top court through a secured pathway to the concerned authorities.
