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Chandigarh 06th April:- A regional discussion regarding the e-Courts Project was held in the Chandigarh Judicial Academy on 02.04.2016. Hon'ble Justice Madan B. Lokur, Judge, Supreme Court of India & Incharge, e-committee Supreme Court of India presided over discussion and Hon'ble Judges of Computer Committees from four High Courts, Hon'ble Justice Rajesh Bindal, Hon'ble Justice Arun Palli & Hon'ble Justice Amit Rawal from Punjab and Haryana High Court, Hon'ble Justice Tashi Rabstan from Jammu & Kashmir High Court, Hon'ble Justice Dharam Chand Chaudhary & Hon'ble Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan from Himachal Pradesh and Hon'ble Justice V.S. Siradhana from Rajasthan High Court, Ms. Kusumjit Sidhu, Secretary to the Government of India, Department of Justice and Atul Kaushik, Joint Secretary to the Government of India, Department of Justice, Central Project Coordinators, NIC Coordinators, Member Secretaries of E-Committee, Supreme Court of India, Secretaries (Finance) and Law Secretaries from the participating States have attended the same.
E-Committee, Supreme Court of India in consultation with Central Government came up with computerization project "e-Courts Phase-I" having total outlay of Rs. 900 crores out of which Rs.700 crores were spent. It was explained by Hon'ble Judge Incharge, e-committee informed that purpose of Phase-I was to computerize Subordinate Courts in the country with aim to bring about transparency, accountability and speedy disposal of cases by sharing case information with the litigants and advocates. E-Courts Phase-I Project has culminated in National Judicial Data Grid whereupon as on date 2 crore 30 lacs pending cases and 2.70 crore decided cases are available.
Expansion in judiciary resulting in recruitment of new judicial officers resulted in setting up of new Courts required expansion of computerization programme. E-Committee has extended e-Court programme to Phase-II with total budget outlay of 1670 crores out of which 200 crores have been released for the purchase of hardware in the year 2015-16.
Hon'ble Justice Madan B. Lokur discussed difficulties faced by participating High Courts in implementation of e-Courts Project as well as best practices evolved to solve these problems. Road map for Phase-II and need to expedite implementation of e-Courts Phase-II programme was also stressed upon.
Citizens Centric Services, implementation of solar energy in District and Subordinate Courts, implementation of improved version of Case Information System which shall further facilitate updation of National Judicial Data Grid and make information available to litigants and advocates at their will. Hon'ble Justice Madan B. Lokur also stressed upon implementation of e-Courts Project within given timelines. To facilitate expeditious decision of cases pertaining to senior citizens and crime against woman, categorization of cases done by Punjab and Haryana High Court, was discussed.
Each of participating High Court presented work done under e-Courts Phase I and Phase II, shared problems and best practices evolved and implemented by each High Court.
Demonstration of e-Filing module enabling the advocates and litigants to file cases online 24x7 as per their convenience from their home by paying Court fee online was also demonstrated by member Secretary e-committee. E-filing software is likely to be launched for general public in the month of August, 2016. Decimation of information regarding cases through SMS, e-mail services, display boards & KIOSK installed in the Courts was discussed and recommended to be implemented at all levels. Need to educate public about facilities available to them was stressed and it was agreed that wide publicity be given to citizen centric services to make public aware of their rights.
Demonstration of National Judicial Data Grid for better utilization and decimation of information was presented by e-Committee, Supreme Court of India. Each of the participating High Courts has showcased Litigants Centric Services which was being offered to public.
Hon'ble Rajasthan High Court in its presentation highlighted SMS services for advocates and litigants as well as reporting software thereby freeing Judicial Officers from administrative duties allowing them to concentrate more on judicial work. Hon'ble High Court for Himachal Pradesh apart from Citizens Centric Services such as SMS etc. highlighted mobile phone application whereby case information, live status of case, next date etc. would be available online on mobile phone.
Hon'ble Jammu and Kashmir High Court also emphasized use of SMS services for giving case information to litigants and advocates. Hon'ble Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir High Courts also highlighted peculiar difficulties faced by them, on account of terrain and funding issues from State Govts.
Hon'ble Mr. Justice Rajesh Bindal, Chairman, Computer Committee presented various Citizens Centric Services initiated by Hon'ble Punjab and Haryana High Court. It was informed that all the decided cases lying in the record room of Hon'ble Punjab and Haryana High Court have been digitalized. This digitalization exercise resulted in scanning of 15.90 crores pages along with disposal of 225 tones of waste papers generating revenue of Rs. 22, 00,000/- from sale of said waste papers and more importantly freeing valuable space of 15,000 square feet.
22,69,397 SMS from High Court, 26,66,377 SMS from Subordinate Courts informing advocates regarding case information brought about transparency & has further saved cost for the litigants who for merely knowing date used to travel long distances. Availability of Indian Law Reports software free of cost with true printouts since its inception since 1948 for the benefit of public was also informed.
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