Jaipur: The Rajasthan High Court Friday sought a detailed response from the state govt on measures taken so far to prevent cybercrime and a timeline for completing the remaining steps earlier directed by the court.Granting 15 days’ time, the court asked the state to file a comprehensive affidavit detailing compliance with each direction and listed the matter for further hearing on Feb 23. A single bench of Justice Ravi Chirania issued the directions while hearing bail petitions of accused arrested in cybercrime cases. The court asked the state to clarify what action had been taken pursuant to previous judicial directions and by when the pending measures would be completed. Senior officials appeared before the court in compliance with its orders, including Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Bhaskar A Sawant, Director General (Law and Order) Sanjay Agrawal, ADG Cyber Crime VK Singh and the Law Secretary. While appreciating the efforts claimed by the state, the court expressed dissatisfaction over the lack of tangible progress. “Despite summoning the Police Commissioner earlier, a Cyber Crime Control Centre is still not established, even after repeated court directions,” the court said. Responding to the concern, ACS Home Bhaskar Sawant stated that the proposed control centre requires around 10,000 square feet of space and that the proposal is under consideration of the chief minister, who has assured that it will be established. The court, however, observed, “if any administrative difficulty exists, it should be brought to its notice”, assuring that appropriate judicial orders can be passed once a suitable building is identified. On the shortage of manpower in the cyber wing of the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), ADG VK Singh told the court that suitable candidates were not available through the RPSC examination. Regarding prosecution support, the state informed the court that a decision was taken to appoint specialised govt prosecutors for cybercrime cases—one each at each district headquarters and one each at the Jaipur and Jodhpur benches of the high court.All appointments are expected to be completed within 15 days. The state also apprised the court of steps to procure digital forensic equipment and to identify and block SIM cards and bank accounts being misused for cybercrimes.
