Undertrials to be tried through video-conferencing

Our Correspondent

Udhampur, November 22

The police bringing undertrials and accused to the court for hearings in packed vans to district courts will be a rare sight in future as process of remands to undertrials begins here today. The advent of video-conferencing set up in the justice delivery system of the state has made the courtrooms much quieter.

Remand given to undertrails through videoconferencing has made the process safer reducing risk of any possible scuffles and security lapses while bringing the accused to the court and back to jail. While the system has been set up and is functioning in the session court and at magistrate level, in first stages of implementation. On the first day two remands has been given to undertrials through videoconferencing.

According to information at the session’s court level, daily hearing of undertrials and recording statements of witnesses will be done on a routine basis through videoconferencing in the near future and only in special circumstances the accused will be called before the court for physical appearance.

According to sources at present from the district jail, an average of 10 to 12 undertrails are ‘produced’ before the district court physically daily and in future all such undertrials will appear through videoconferencing.

To make video-conference system functional, link has been set up between jails and the court. To provide legal backing to this digital leap, a District Courts of J&K Video Conferencing Rules, 2018 have also been notified, laying down procedures and guidelines for making videoconferencing a tool in the justice delivery system of the state. The connectivity between the courts in Udhampur is done through a separate network set up through IP protocol, thus ensuring its security.