Bhubaneswar: Police officers, who are not good at English, will now have the option to send a case diary, final form and letters related to other investigations in Odia, to court.
Until now, investigative officers were allowed to send diaries written only in English.
Given the difficulties faced by many officers in describing the details of investigations in English and the court here in handling language use, DGP Abhay issued orders on Saturday, allowing the police to write in their mother tongue.
“Odia becomes the mother language of the majority of Odisha police officers, will be more comfortable for them to write diaries and final forms in Odia.
Apart from English, Odia is now recognized as one of the court languages.
The judge was recording the defendant’s statement and witnesses in Odia .
In some cases, deposition of witnesses was also recorded in Odia, “Read Abhay Circular, accessed by TOI.
Circular further read odiah as the official language and language of the state court, police officers investigate criminal cases with this given the choice to prepare investigation papers in odia, if they are profitable.
DGP has requested the Crime State Records Bureau, Vinaytosh Mishra, to facilitate the writing of diaries in Odia in the network and a criminal tracking system (CCTNS).
At present, the complainants are given the freedom to submit complaints in their choice languages.
However, the copy of the FIR produced through CCTNs was written in English in the state.
In many countries, almost all papers related to investigations, including fir and diaries, are written in regional languages.
A few years ago, the State Police Headquarters had issued a circular, making it mandatory for investigative officers to send diaries to court in English.
Police are also advised to write in odia only in terms of small and insignificant cases.
“It is good that the police will have the option to place all the facts in Odia.
Sometimes, the wrong English makes the judge angry and weaken the trial technically,” said Sidharth Das, said a senior lawyer.