Computerisation of courts gets fresh push

In a bid to speed up disposal of pending cases, the Cabinet today cleared phase two of a project to computerise courtrooms and connect them with jails through video conferencing facility so that cases of undertrials can be heard at a faster pace.
The Cabinet approved the second phase of eCourts Mission Mode Project at an estimated cost of Rs 1670 crore.
It envisages enhanced IT enablement of courts through universal computerisation, use of cloud computing, digitisation of case records and enhanced availability of e-services through e-filing, e-payment gateways and mobile applications.
The phase II of the eCourts project would also help in the automation of work flow management in courts thereby contributing to better court and case management, an official statement said.

Touch screen-based kiosks and video conferencing facility will be installed at all court complexes and corresponding jails. Hand-held process service devices will be provided to process servers to ensure transparent and time bound delivery of court notices and summons, it said.
The use of solar energy has been proposed at 5 per cent of the court complexes on a pilot basis, keeping in mind long power cuts which affects functioning of proceedings.

The eCourts project is aimed at providing necessary hardware and software applications to enable courts to deliver e-services to citizens, and to enable the judiciary to better monitor and manage the functioning of courts.

In phase I of the project, more than 13,000 district and subordinate courts have been computerised and case information linked to the respective district court websites.
These courts are now providing online e services such as cause lists, case status and judgements, to litigants and public through the eCourts portal.
Case status information in respect of over 5 crore pending and decided cases and more than one crore orders/ judgements are available online. More than 24 crore transactions have already been recorded regarding online access of court information, the statement said.