CHENNAI: The central government’s National Informatics Centre (NIC) has said the FIR in the alleged rape of the Anna University student may have been leaked as it was not blocked due to technical glitches due to migration from Indian Penal Code (IPC) to Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS).
A letter issued by R Arul Mozhi Varman, senior director and scientist at NIC said the ‘View FIR’ page of the Tamil Nadu police has been implemented with a logic to block the viewing of FIRs under sensitive sections/subsections like the BNSS 64,67,68,70 and 79 as per the list given by the State Crime Records Bureau (SCRB). Sources at Greater Chennai police have confirmed the authenticity of the letter.
After the Anna University incident, NIC has revisited the code and requested the SCRB team to thoroughly check all possibilities on the ‘View FIR’ page against all sensitive sections and subsections, the letter said.
In his press conference on Thursday, Greater Chennai Police Commissioner A Arun had maintained that the probable leak was due to technical glitches which failed to block the FIR.
The Kottupuram All Women police station had registered the case against accused Gnanasekaran based on the survivor’s complaint alleging rape on December 23 evening on Anna University’s premises. Gnanasekaran, a roadside biryani vendor, was arrested on December 25.
The FIR had subsequently been downloaded by certain individuals from the TN police’s website and broadcast by certain media outlets.
This led to a furore given that there are Supreme Court guidelines about maintaining secrecy of such FIRs. Madras High Court also took note of the issue and asked Tamil Nadu police to investigate the leak.
Sources said Greater Chennai Police’s cyber crime wing has registered a separate FIR against two TV news channels for revealing the identity of the student and other sensitive details. Cops have booked a case under section 72 and 67(a) of the IT Act.