India's Criminal Justice System Goes Digital: Full Roll-Out by 2027
From January 1, 2027, all procedures related to investigations and trials under the new criminal laws will be recorded digitally, a senior Home Ministry official announced on Tuesday. The nationwide rollout of the Interoperable Criminal Justice System (ICJS) aims to integrate police, courts, prisons, forensics, and prosecution on a single platform, with an emphasis on end-to-end digital workflows.
The data will be stored on the government-owned cloud platform MeghRaj. However, data from the National Crime Records Bureau shows that the consumption of First Information Reports (FIRs) by courts—the electronic transmission of cases to court systems—stands at 46%, less than half of registered cases.
The three new criminal laws—the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Sakshya Sanhita (BSS), and Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS)—replaced the Indian Penal Code (1860), Indian Evidence Act (1872), and Code of Criminal Procedure (1898) respectively. These came into effect on July 1, 2024, and in the past two years, 74.66 lakh FIRs have been filed under the BNS. As the laws require upgraded infrastructure and forensic capabilities, states and union territories have been given five years to implement all pillars of the criminal justice system.
Under the BNSS, 63,572 zero-FIRs—cases filed irrespective of jurisdiction—have been registered. Although the provision existed earlier, the BNSS gave it statutory backing. Around 13,000 zero-FIRs were filed in different districts of the same state, falling under inter-state transfers. The Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems platform, used in 16,000 police stations, allows case registration in 23 languages, and the Bhashini App can translate zero-FIRs to the language of the jurisdiction concerned.
“A police person cannot turn away a complainant from filing a zero-FIR. Once registered, the case is transferred to the concerned police station, which can decide upon inquiry whether to close the case or pursue investigation,” the official said.
Of the 36 states and union territories, Haryana, Goa, Assam, Punjab, and Chandigarh have implemented all parameters of the justice system, while 23 states, including Delhi, are above the national average. Due to connectivity issues, some northeastern states are lagging.
As the new laws mandate forensic examination of crime scenes in cases punishable by seven years or more, 25 new forensic laboratories have been added in the past two years, increasing the total from 129 in 2023 to 154 in 2025. In 2023, forensic labs received 8,44,589 cases, with 4,64,879 pending; in 2025, 11,11,798 cases were received and 3,90,786 were pending. More than 7,700 mobile forensic units have been deployed.
After the new laws were implemented, the national implementation score rose from 46.47% in January 2025 to 70.06% in June 2026. The 60-day charge-sheet compliance increased from about 51% to 67%, and the 90-day compliance rose from about 40% to 61%. Additionally, 46.5 lakh digital evidence IDs were generated, and 56.74 lakh e-summons were served. As of May 31, 2026, the database contains 37.68 crore police records, including 9.9 crore FIRs and 7.64 crore charge sheets, accessible to police and investigating agencies.
The official noted that improving internet connectivity in remote and northeastern areas, standardising processes across states, ensuring full interoperability among criminal justice platforms, and training personnel remain key challenges.
