Allahabad High Court Orders Direct Court Access to Medical and Forensic Records in Criminal Cases

In a significant step toward fully digitizing the criminal justice system, the Allahabad High Court has directed that courts and magistrates be granted direct access to medical and forensic records stored on the MedLEaPR and e-Forensic Laboratory platforms. The order, passed by a bench of Justice Arun Kumar Singh Deshwal on August 19, 2026, came while monitoring the progress of integrating various criminal justice databases.

The Push for Interoperable Justice

The court was hearing a bail application in a dowry death case, but the proceedings quickly centered on the broader issue of digital integration. The court noted that the National Informatics Centre (NIC) has already integrated MedLEaPR —the platform for medical and medico-legal records—with the police's CCTNS system, allowing officers to directly view postmortem reports and other medical documents uploaded by hospitals.

However, the court observed that the same direct access was still not available to the judiciary. To address this, Sri Shashi Kant Sharma , Deputy Director General of NIC, informed the court that an API had been shared with the CIS (Case Information System), enabling the entire case diary and final police report to be accessed by the concerned magistrate.

Key Directives for Further Integration

The court issued several concrete directions:

"NIC is directed to make arrangements so that the concerned Court/Magistrate can directly access the data available on MedLEaPR and E-Forensic Laboratory ."

The court also directed the Principal Secretary, Health, Uttar Pradesh and the Director General of Police, Uttar Pradesh to cooperate with NIC for effective implementation of the Inter-operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS) , ensuring that data from MedLEaPR and forensic labs flows seamlessly to the courts.

Recognizing a critical gap, the court recorded that hospitals need to be sensitized to upload postmortem and other medico-legal reports onto MedLEaPR on a regular basis. NIC assured the bench that a sensitization program would be conducted with the assistance of the state health department.

Summons and Warrants in Hindi

In a move aimed at enhancing accessibility, the court asked NIC to explore the possibility of generating summons and warrants in Hindi on the CIS platform for cases in Uttar Pradesh. This would make legal documents more understandable to the public and streamline judicial processes.

Electronic Verification of Sureties

NIC was also directed to implement the Supreme Court's recent ruling in Union of India vs. Chidiebere Kingsley Nawchara regarding electronic verification of sureties. The court emphasized that this feature should be integrated into the system to digitize the bail process further.

Monitoring Progress

The court has scheduled the next hearing for September 17, 2026 , when NIC and the state technical authorities are required to report on the progress of these directives. The bench made it clear that it would continue to monitor the implementation to ensure that the vision of a fully integrated criminal justice system becomes a reality.

This order marks a crucial step toward eliminating silos in the criminal justice chain, ensuring that medical, forensic, and police records are accessible to courts at the click of a button—reducing delays and improving the efficiency of criminal adjudication.