Revenue court verdicts to be available online in Rajasthan

Rajasthan on Thursday launched state Revenue Court Grid, a new system under which judgments of revenue courts will be provided online to the litigants.

Modelled on the lines of eCourts mission of the Central government and implemented by the Law and Justice Ministry in the Supreme Court and high courts, now the Rajasthan Revenue Court Grid will also make judgments available online.

"This is a significant step towards establishing Rajasthan's Revenue Courts as fully digital institutions. From today (Thursday), all revenue courts up to sub-divisional officers' courts would start placing judgments online," said V. Srinivas, Chairman - Rajasthan Tax Board, at the launch of the initiative.

Srinvas, who also holds the additional charge of Chairman, Board of Revenue, has formerly played a key role in the digital transformation of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.

He said the next step after the launch would include stage-wise monitoring of court cases which alone can reduce the huge case load that Rajasthan's revenue courts face.

"It currently takes the litigant an average of five years of litigation in sub-divisional officers' courts, two years in Revenue Appellate Authority's courts and 15 years' litigation in the Board of Revenue. The cumulative period is 22 years," said Srinivas, a 1989-batch IAS officer.

He said: "Day after day, for the past several months, I have heard second appeals of cases registered in the Board of Revenue in the years 2000-2001.

"Very rarely do I get to hear arguments in more recent cases, except those at admission stage. We need to ensure that the presiding officers in revenue courts are in control of the litigation and (to ensure that) digitisation is the way forward."

--IANS

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