The Crossbill News Desk
India’s criminal justice administration is moving towards a fully digital framework with the nationwide rollout of the Interoperable Criminal Justice System (ICJS), a platform designed to electronically connect every stage of criminal investigations and trials under the country’s new criminal laws.
According to a senior Union Home Ministry official quoted by The Hindu, all procedures related to investigations and court proceedings under the new legal regime will now be digitally recorded and integrated across institutions.
The ICJS links various components of the justice delivery system, including the police, courts, prisons, forensic laboratories and prosecution departments, through a single platform. The data generated through these processes is stored on the government-owned cloud infrastructure, MeghRaj.
Despite the expansion of the digital platform, integration remains incomplete in several areas.
According to data maintained by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), electronic transmission of First Information Reports (FIRs) to courts, known as FIR consumption by courts, currently stands at just 46%, meaning that less than half of registered cases are being digitally received by court systems.
The digital push comes a year after the implementation of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Sakshya Sanhita (BSS), and Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), which came into force on July 1, 2024, replacing the colonial-era Indian Penal Code, Indian Evidence Act and Code of Criminal Procedure.
According to The Hindu, nearly 74.66 lakh FIRs have been registered under the BNS framework over the past two years, reflecting the scale at which the new legal architecture is being adopted.
The Home Ministry official said that five jurisdictions—Haryana, Goa, Assam, Punjab and Chandigarh—have fully implemented all the parameters of the integrated justice system.
Meanwhile, 23 states and Union territories, including Delhi, have performed above the national average in adopting the platform. However, connectivity issues continue to hinder implementation in some northeastern states.
The scale of data already available on the system underscores the government's push towards digitisation. As of May 31, 2026, the ICJS database contained 37.68 crore police records, including 9.9 crore FIRs and 7.64 crore chargesheets, all of which can be accessed by police and investigating agencies through the integrated platform.
According to a senior Union Home Ministry official quoted by The Hindu, all procedures related to investigations and court proceedings under the new legal regime will now be digitally recorded and integrated across institutions.
The ICJS links various components of the justice delivery system, including the police, courts, prisons, forensic laboratories and prosecution departments, through a single platform. The data generated through these processes is stored on the government-owned cloud infrastructure, MeghRaj.
Despite the expansion of the digital platform, integration remains incomplete in several areas.
According to data maintained by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), electronic transmission of First Information Reports (FIRs) to courts, known as FIR consumption by courts, currently stands at just 46%, meaning that less than half of registered cases are being digitally received by court systems.
The digital push comes a year after the implementation of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Sakshya Sanhita (BSS), and Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), which came into force on July 1, 2024, replacing the colonial-era Indian Penal Code, Indian Evidence Act and Code of Criminal Procedure.
According to The Hindu, nearly 74.66 lakh FIRs have been registered under the BNS framework over the past two years, reflecting the scale at which the new legal architecture is being adopted.
The Home Ministry official said that five jurisdictions—Haryana, Goa, Assam, Punjab and Chandigarh—have fully implemented all the parameters of the integrated justice system.
Meanwhile, 23 states and Union territories, including Delhi, have performed above the national average in adopting the platform. However, connectivity issues continue to hinder implementation in some northeastern states.
The scale of data already available on the system underscores the government's push towards digitisation. As of May 31, 2026, the ICJS database contained 37.68 crore police records, including 9.9 crore FIRs and 7.64 crore chargesheets, all of which can be accessed by police and investigating agencies through the integrated platform.
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