e-Court Awareness
e-Court The Cabinet Committee for Economic Affairs (CCEA) had, in its meeting dated 8-Feb, 2007, approved a project of computerization of the Indian Judiciary. The project was based on the National Policy and Action Plan for Implementation of information and communication technology (ICT) in the Indian Judiciary submitted by eCommittee (Supreme Court of India). The scope of the project, also called the eCourts project, included computerization of 14249 district and subordinate courts in 3069 court complexes and ICT upgradation of Supreme Court (SC) and High Courts for Rs. 935 Cr, to be completed by 2014. This project is also one of the Mission Mode Projects (MMP) under the National eGovernance Plan (NeGP).
Objectives: The objective of the project was to provide following services by ICT enablement of all district and subordinate courts in the country through provision of computer hardware, Local Area Network (LAN), internet connectivity and installation of standard application software at each court complex, upgradation of existing ICT Infrastructure of Supreme Court and all High Courts / Benches. It also included provision of laptops, laser printers, broadband connectivity at home offices of Judicial Officers and imparting ICT training to them. Power back up was also to be provided at these court complexes for the ICT infrastructure through Diesel Generator Sets (DG Sets) and UPS. Technical manpower was also planned for deployment in High Courts and judicial districts for providing Information Technology (IT) support at these court complexes.
Services envisaged under the project The services envisaged under the project cater to all key stakeholders including the Judiciary, the District and Subordinate Courts and the Citizens / Litigants / Lawyers / Advocates. One of the key benefits of computerization of courts would be the automation of Case Management. This would enable the judges to exercise greater control over management of cases. Moreover, all courts will be linked and will have a National Judicial Data Grid, which would result in the creation of the National Arrears Grid. This will help in review and monitoring of pendency in cases across the country. Citizens will be able to avail services through Judicial Service Center at a court complex. These would include Filing of cases, issuance of certified copies of orders and judgments, information about Case status etc. Moreover, ICT enablement will make the functioning of the courts more efficient and will help the judges in speedier disposal of cases, which will ultimately have a positive impact on the justice delivery system.
The following lists the services envisaged for various stakeholders under the eCourts project:- Automation of case management workflow though use of Application software This would entail automation of activities such as Case Filing, Scrutiny, Registration, Case Allocation, Court Proceedings, Details entry of a Case, Case Disposal & restoration, Transfer of Case, Pendency data and Institution Registers, and Court Diaries, Calculation of court fees etc. Citizens / Litigants / Lawyers / Advocates – Citizens will be able to avail services through Judicial Service Center at a court complex. Some of these services would include automated case filing, issue of certified copies of orders and judgments, obtaining information about case status. Judiciary – Creation of National Judicial Data Grid and enabling monitoring of pendency in the lower courts.
The key Services that are currently provided to Litigants are:-
Computerised Registration of cases and generation of auto generated case numbers. Generation and uploading of Computerised Cause lists on website. Updation of daily proceedings.