Justice Anand Pathak opined that such a move could help in communications during the course of the trial and also aid in ensuring a speedy trial and the protection of victims or witnesses in a criminal case.
In the recent case of Radhe v State, the Madhya Pradesh High Court has proposed the establishment of discussion groups for each criminal trial, involving the complainant, investigating police, witnesses, and others, using the domestically developed Sandes messaging application.
Justice Anand Pathak emphasized that implementing this measure could enhance communication during trials, protect the interests of victims and witnesses in criminal cases, and expedite legal proceedings.
“To ensure a swift trial and the safeguarding of victims and witnesses, a ‘SANDES GROUP’ should be created for every serious offense… If the complainant reports any intimidation of witnesses within the group, the police authorities can also investigate such allegations,” stated the judge in the order issued on October 30.
Justice Pathak also recommended the integration of the Inter-operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS) database with the Sandesh App, primarily used for government interdepartmental communications.
Consequently, the Court has directed the Deputy Advocate General to collaborate with the State Informatics Centre (SIC) and the National Informatics Centre (NIC) to explore the possibility of syncing the Sandes application with ICJS.
A similar directive was issued by Justice Pathak in September of this year, requiring the establishment of WhatsApp groups dedicated to specific criminal cases to ensure witness attendance during trial proceedings.
However, the October 30 order proposed the creation of these chat groups using the Sandes app instead of WhatsApp, specifically in cases involving individuals facing charges of witness intimidation.
The Court reasoned that the use of a Sandes group in such situations could enable witnesses to promptly report any intimidation to the police.
Furthermore, the order dated October 30 stipulated that once Sandes is synchronized with ICJS, it can be linked to the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTN) and other relevant systems.
Through this integration, the order asserted, the early mitigation of threats or intimidation of prosecution witnesses would be achieved, proactively ensuring witness protection.
The case is scheduled for a further hearing on November 21.
Advocate Mayank Pathak represented the applicant, while the State was represented by Public Prosecutor Shiraz Qureshi and Deputy Advocate General RS Kushwaha.
