Lok Sabha Question No. 2575 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-12-04
Subject: Linking of Courts through Video Conferencing
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: Ritesh Pandey, Pinaki Misra

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE (DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE)

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 2575 TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, THE 4 th  DECEMBER, 2019

## Linking of Courts through Video Conferencing

## 2575. SHRI RITESH PANDEY: SHRI PINAKI MISRA:

## Will the Minister of LAW AND JUSTICE be pleased to state:

- (a)   the State-wise number of prisons and courts that have been linked via video conferencing across the country;
- (b)  whether any amendment has been made to permit the use of video conferencing during trial hearings;
- (c)    if so, the details of implementation of this amendment;
- (d) the number of prisoners being produced via video conferencing  for  remand  hearing  and  trial  hearings  across the country; and
- (e)  the details of the nodal agency in charge of monitoring and documenting  the  use  of  video-conferencing  at  the  district/ State/national level?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF LAW AND JUSTICE, COMMUNICATIONS AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

- (a) :  Under the eCourts Mission Mode Project, video conferencing facility has  been  enabled  between  3240  court  complexes  and  1272  corresponding jails.  State/UT wise information is placed in the Annexure.

(b) and (c): An amendment was made in section 167 (2) (b) of Code of Criminal Procedure to extend further detention of the accused in judicial custody through the medium of electronic video linkage.

As  per  the  said  section,  no  Magistrate  shall  authorise  detention  of  the accused  in  custody  of  the  police  under  this  section  unless  the  accused  is produced before him in person for the first time and subsequently every time till the accused remains in the custody of the police, but the Magistrate may extend further  detention  in  judicial  custody  on  production  of  the  accused  either  in person or through the medium of electronic video linkage.

(d) and ((e) : The nodal agency in charge of monitoring and documenting the use  of  video  conferencing  varies  from  State  to  State.  In  some  States,  the documentation is recorded in the proceedings of case records. In some States, Nodal  Officers  under  eCourts  project  at  District  Level  and  Central  Project Coordinator  (CPC)  of  High  Court  at  State  Level  do  the  monitoring  and documenting of use of video conferencing.  In some other States, the remote end District Jails are also maintaining the records of such under trial prisoners in  which  judicial  proceedings  are  conducted  through  video  conferencing. Therefore,  the  details  of  number  of  prisoners  being  produced  via  video conferencing for remand hearing and trial hearings across the country are not maintained centrally but by the respective nodal agency.

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## ANNEXURE

| S. No   | High Court        | State/UT          |   Total Court Complexes |   Total Jails |
|---------|-------------------|-------------------|-------------------------|---------------|
| 1       | Allahabad         | Uttar Pradesh     |                     150 |            65 |
| 2       | Andhra Pradesh    | Andhra Pradesh    |                     212 |           111 |
| 3       |                   | D &NHaveli        |                       1 |             1 |
| 3       |                   | Daman &Diu        |                       2 |             2 |
| 3       | Bombay            | Goa               |                      17 |             2 |
| 3       |                   | Maharashtra       |                     466 |           138 |
| 4       |                   | A &NIslands       |                       4 |             4 |
| 4       | Calcutta          | West Bengal       |                      84 |            53 |
| 5       | Chhattisgarh      | Chhattisgarh      |                      90 |            28 |
| 6       | Delhi             | Delhi             |                       6 |            10 |
| 7       |                   | Arunachal Pradesh |                      14 |             2 |
| 7       |                   | Assam             |                      68 |            29 |
| 7       | Gauhati           | Mizoram           |                       8 |             7 |
| 7       |                   | Nagaland          |                      11 |            11 |
| 8       | Gujarat           | Gujarat           |                     327 |            23 |
| 9       | Himachal Pradesh  | Himachal Pradesh  |                      43 |            12 |
| 10      | Jammu and Kashmir | Jammu and Kashmir |                      86 |            14 |
| 11      | Jharkhand         | Jharkhand         |                      28 |            27 |
| 12      | Karnataka         | Karnataka         |                     200 |            97 |
| 13      |                   | Kerala            |                     156 |            33 |
| 13      | Kerala            | Lakshadweep       |                       3 |             4 |
| 14      | Madhya Pradesh    | Madhya Pradesh    |                     203 |           122 |
| 15      | Madras            | Puducherry        |                       4 |             2 |
|         |                   | Tamil Nadu        |                     263 |           117 |
| 16      | Manipur           | Manipur           |                      17 |             2 |
| 17      | Meghalaya         | Meghalaya         |                       6 |             4 |
| 18      | Orissa            | Odisha            |                     141 |            88 |
| 19      | Patna             | Bihar             |                      76 |            56 |
| 20      |                   | Chandigarh        |                       1 |             1 |
|         | Punjab & Haryana  | Haryana           |                      53 |            19 |
|         |                   | Punjab            |                      64 |            24 |
| 21      | Rajasthan         | Rajasthan         |                     238 |            95 |
| 22      | Sikkim            | Sikkim            |                       4 |             2 |
| 23      | Telangana         | Telangana         |                     129 |            44 |
| 24      | Tripura           | Tripura           |                      13 |            13 |
| 25      | Uttarakhand       | Uttarakhand       |                      52 |            10 |
| TOTAL   | TOTAL             | TOTAL             |                    3240 |          1272 |