State creates 2,084 video-conferencing facilities for court witnesses

The ambitious project to implement the technology-driven initiative of setting up of the audio-video electronic infrastructure for appearing as witnesses in the court proceedings is on track in Haryana, with 16 of 22 districts recording 100% coverage. The project has achieved 98.44% coverage, with 2,084 offices of a total of 2,117 earmarked offices having the state-of-the-art facilities for the appearance of the witnesses in the court proceedings without actually travelling to the courts.

Sources said 16 districts that had met the targets of creating 100% infrastructure mandated under the provisions of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, included Bhiwani, Faridabad, Kurukshetra, Nuh, Fatehabad, Palwal, Mahendragarh, Jind, Rewari, Rohtak, Sirsa, Panchkula, Gurugram, Ambala, Yamunanagar, Jhajjar and Kaithal. The installation of audio-video facilities at 33 more places in six districts would be accomplished soon, the sources said.

Under the initiative, the audio-video facilities had been set up at all district courts, offices of DCs and SDMs, police stations, jails, medical colleges and community health centres, Punjab and Haryana Civil Secretariat and offices of the boards, corporations and departments.

These facilities would prove beneficial for jail inmates, crime victims, diseased persons not fit to travel, persons having security concerns and government officials.

Sumita Misra, Additional Chief Secretary (ACS), Administration of Justice Department, said the government was committed to implementing the provisions of the BNSS, governing the appearance of witnesses through audio-video means. "It is a citizen-centric initiative under the new criminal laws, under which the witnesses depose before the court through the use of modern technology, saving time and money,” she said.