The Madhya Pradesh High Court recently suggested that chat groups should be established using the domestically created messaging app, Sandes, for every criminal trial, involving the complainant, investigating police, witnesses, and others as members.

Justice Anand Pathak expressed the view that implementing this approach could enhance communication throughout the trial process, expedite legal proceedings, and provide better protection for victims and witnesses in criminal cases.

In order to expedite trials and ensure the protection of victims and witnesses, it is crucial and urgent to establish a 'SANDES GROUP' for every serious crime. The police authorities should also investigate any complaints of witness intimidation that may arise within this group, as stated in the judge's order issued on October 30th.

Justice Pathak also suggested that authorities should explore the possibility of integrating the Sandes App, primarily utilized for inter-departmental government communications, with the Inter-operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS) database.

As a result, the Court has instructed the Deputy Advocate General to seek guidance from the National Informatics Centre (NIC) and the State Informatics Centre (SIC) regarding the feasibility of synchronizing the Sandes app with the Inter-operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS).

Justice Pathak issued a similar order in September of this year, in which he advocated for the formation of WhatsApp groups for each criminal case. This was done to guarantee the presence of witnesses before trial courts.

The October 30 order, on the other hand, favored the use of the Sandes app for creating chat groups, as opposed to WhatsApp. This order was issued in a case where an individual (the applicant) was accused of intimidating a witness in a criminal case.

The Court's rationale behind advocating for the creation of Sandes groups in such cases was that it could facilitate witnesses in promptly reporting any incidents of intimidation to the police.

In the October 30 order, the Court also mentioned that once Sandes is synchronized with the ICJS, it could potentially be linked to the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTN) and other related systems in the future.

The order stated that by implementing this mechanism, the early detection and reduction of intimidation or threats against prosecution witnesses concerning their evidence would be achieved, and proactive measures for witness protection would be guaranteed.

The next hearing for this matter is scheduled for November 21.