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HomeIndiaGovernanceDespite push for Digital India, eCourts project moving at snail’s pace

Despite push for Digital India, eCourts project moving at snail’s pace

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Only 30 per cent of total sanctioned funds of Rs 800 crore has been utilised in the second phase, since 2015.

New Delhi: Despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s aggressive push for his government’s Digital India campaign, the eCourts project is moving at a snail’s pace with only 30 per cent of the total sanctioned funds of Rs 800 crore being utilised under the BJP-led NDA government.

The second phase of eCourts Mission Mode Project was launched in 2015 — after the Modi government took over — to computerise district and subordinate courts of the country.

The cabinet had cleared Rs 1,670 crore for the project in July 2015. Out of the Rs 800 crore that has been disbursed to high courts until December 2017, only Rs 240 crore has been utilised. The government’s own deadline for the project is March 2019.

Except for the Allahabad High Court, none of the 24 high courts have used more than 50 per cent of funds released to them for setting up video-conferencing facilities, develop technical infrastructure. The Bombay HC has received Rs 111.90 crore, as of 31 August 2017, and has spent only Rs 29.12 crore.

Graphic showing spending on digitisation of courts

The Meghalaya high court has spent the least amount — only 3.99 per cent — of the allocated funds. An official with the e-courts committee on condition of anonymity said that floods in the northeast region last year had stalled procurement.

Harish Narsappa, co-founder of Daksh, a Bengaluru-based nonprofit, points out that the slow pace of the judiciary’s digitisation is perhaps because the project lacks a clear vision.

“The aim so far has been to achieve targets of making records available online, enable e-filing, etc. It has not been to manage courts better through technology and that’s what we really need,” Narsappa said.

“What the project has achieved so far is great. Taking all paperwork of courts to an online platform is in itself a huge task. But they haven’t gone all the way,” he added.

While technology has been introduced to many aspects of the judiciary, the gaps are glaring. For example, even when computers were installed in court rooms for every judge in the apex court to enable them to read digital records instead of using large paperbooks, they are yet to be used.

Many district courts and high courts do not upload all court orders online and often blame lack of internet connectivity.

A committee headed by Justice Madan B. Lokur of the apex court is tasked with digitising an estimated 13,000 district and subordinate courts. The scheme is aimed at computerising the courts, using cloud computing, digitising case records and enhancing e-services through e-filing, e-payment gateways and mobile applications among other.

The e-committees of high courts will supervise implementation of this project in their respective jurisdictions.

Other digitisation schemes

A total of 16,089 courts have been computerised under the eCourts Project to date. In the first phase, the UPA government spent over Rs 1,000 crore between 2010 and 2014.

While the eCourts project targets only the lower judiciary, many schemes have been made for the high courts and the Supreme Court.

Graphic showing spending on eCourts system

Under the centrally-sponsored scheme for Development of Infrastructure Facilities for Judiciary, a total of Rs 6,009 crore has been released since 1993-94. Of this, Rs 2,565 crore (42.66 per cent) has been released since April, 2014.

This has enabled the courts to upload the case status and orders online. Status of cases and copies of judgments have also been made available on the websites of the courts. The law ministry also developed a host of citizen-centric digital services for lawyers and litigants.

Last year, the ministry also launched a website for lawyers to register themselves  for pro bono services so that they can offer tele-legal service free of cost to the poor and the marginalised.

E-filing

Online filing of cases and payment of court fee is at present operational in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Bombay and Punjab & Haryana high courts. Other high courts are yet to take to the project.

E-signatures

Often, there are delays in implementing court orders as signed, certified copies are not made available immediately to parties. Although a pilot project began in Karnataka way back in 2002, the project has found few takers.

In 2016, the apex court also asked the government to consider introducing digital signature scheme. The court’s request came after a judge hearing cases during court vacation had granted bail to a litigant but a signed order was not available for the police to take cognisance.

Video conferencing

According to official data, 488 court complexes and 342 corresponding prisons have video-conferencing facility between 2015 and 2017. The eCourt project aims to have at least one video-conference unit in every district court.

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