The Supreme Court on Monday directed its e-committee to consider a plea seeking changes to the e-courts portal to facilitate the electronic compounding of offences.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V. Mohana issued the direction while hearing a petition filed by Prabhjot Singh Dhillon.
The Supreme Court instructed its Registry to hand over all case documents to the e-committee, asking them to evaluate the matter and make necessary modifications to the portal.
Senior Advocate Maninder Singh, appearing for the petitioner, submitted that recommendations made by a High Court had remained under consideration and that a modification to the portal was needed for the smoother functioning of e-courts.
He said that with electronic surveillance now being introduced in law, compounding is undertaken through the police portal but, after 60 days, the matter is transferred to the e-courts portal. Singh submitted that the system required a provision enabling the matter to be shown as compounded and the accused to be reflected as not guilty.
According to Singh, the High Court’s recommendation was approved twice by the concerned committee in 2024 but was still awaiting implementation. He described the proposed change as important for the effective functioning of the e-courts system.
The Bench agreed and directed that the petition be placed before the Supreme Court’s e-committee for consideration of the necessary changes.
Compounding of offences is a legal process through which certain criminal cases may be settled between the complainant and the accused, subject to the law and, in some cases, court approval. Once an offence is validly compounded, the accused is generally treated as acquitted.
The plea highlights a gap in the digital workflow between police systems and the e-courts portal, where electronically processed compounding may not be accurately reflected after a case is transferred to the court’s platform.
The post Supreme Court asks e-committee to examine changes to e-courts portal for compounding of offences appeared first on India Legal.