Law Commission of India recommends limited roll-out of e-FIR system, punishment for false cases filed online

The Law Commission of India has recommended that online registration of First Information Report (FIR) should be permitted for all cognizable offences where accused are unknown..The 22nd Law Commission headed by Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi has submitted its 282nd report titled Amendment in Section 154 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 for Enabling Online Registration of FIR to the Central government.The Commission said that when the accused is known, the registration of e-FIR should be permitted only for those cognizable offences where punishment is up to three years.“Such a limited roll-out of the e-FIR scheme in the initial phase would ensure that for the time being, there is no disruption relating to the procedure adopted for reporting and investigation of serious offences,” the report said..To prevent registration of false e-FIRs and complaints, the Commission stressed on the need for verification of the complainant or informant through e-authentication techniques like verification of mobile number through OTP and mandatory uploading of valid ID proof like Aadhaar or any other government-approved ID.It has also recommended a minimum punishment of imprisonment and fine for false registration of e-complaints or e-FIR. In this regard, it has recommended amendment to Section 182 of the IPC.“In case the registered information is not signed by the informant deliberately within the prescribed time, the information shall be deleted from the Centralized National Portal after two weeks. Privacy of sexual offence victims must be given prime consideration at all stages,” the report added..However, the Commission recommended against allowing registration of e-FIR in all cases.It referred to Supreme Court’s landmark verdict in Lalita Kumari v. State of Uttar Pradesh, in which the top court held that preliminary enquiry should be conducted in cases pertaining to matrimonial disputes, commercial offences, medical negligence and corruption, among others.The report reasoned that registration of e-FIR in all cases may cause extremely high investigative burden on police and curtail their power to conduct preliminary enquiry..The Commission has accordingly recommended suitable amendments to the Indian Evidence Act, the Information Technology Act, the Indian Penal Code and other legislation to facilitate the registration of e-FIR. With regard to non-cognizable offences, the Commission said that registration of e-complaint should be allowed. .All e-FIRs should should be forwarded to the court by linking the website of the police with the e-courts portal, the Commission suggested.It has also recommended that states may expand the list of offences for which e-FIR may be registered in future, if such system turns out to be effective."In areas where visiting the Police Station might not be feasible due to security or other infrastructural issues, filing e-FIR may prove to be a boon. Also, filing of e-FIR would help in overcoming reluctance shown by police officers to file FIRs in cases of petty offences," the Commission said..At present, the electronic registration of FIRs is being implemented in eight states, but only for specified crimes. The Commission has said that the process of registration of FIR may be made simple by allowing multiple modes of providing information..Calling for the online portal for registering FIRs and complaints to be user-friendly, the Commission suggested,"A Centralized System, as proposed under Annexure B, may be setup for processing information in order to expand the mode of electronic communication. The Police Officer shall use the information provided on this portal to check whether a cognizable offence has been committed or not and will proceed accordingly.".[Read Report]