eCourts Ph-3 project gets Rs 825 cr this fiscal, Rs 1,500 cr for next FY

The phase-III of the ambitious eCourts project, which seeks to upgrade the lower judiciary's digital infrastructure, has been allocated Rs 825 crore this fiscal after the revised estimates, while an enhanced sum of Rs 1,500 crore has been allocated for the next financial year.

The phase-III received a Cabinet nod in September last year with a financial outlay of Rs 7,210 crore.

According to the revised estimates for 2023-24, the Law Ministry has been granted Rs 825 crore for the Phase III of the project.

The project will get Rs 1500 crore, according to the budget estimates for 2024-25.

This phase of the the project, which is to be implemented over four years, will see digitisation of entire court records, both legacy and pending cases, at an estimated cost of Rs 2,038.40 crore. A total of 3,108 crore documents will be digitised, official sources had said.

The eCourts Mission Mode Project has been described by the government as the prime mover for improving access to justice using technology.

As part of phase-III, the system will be migrated to cloud technology and the cost estimated for providing 25 petabytes (according to existing requirement) of cloud storage is Rs 1,205.20 crore.

The required hardware will be provided by the Centre and later a tripartite agreement will be signed between state governments, the Centre and the 25 high courts under which maintenance, upkeep and replacement of equipment will be the responsibility of respective states.