Lok Sabha Question No. 4833 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-04-01
Subject: Virtual Courts
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: Ganesh Singh

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 4833 TO BE ANSWERED ON FRIDAY, THE 01 st APRIL, 2022

## Virtual Courts

## †4833. SHRI GANESH SINGH:

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

- (a) whether the Government has received any suggestion for continuation of the practice of virtual courts through the video conferencing mode that was started during the lockdown times;
- (b) if so, whether the present infrastructure is not adequate for functioning of courts through virtual mode, if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether nearly 50 percent lawyers particularly in the district courts lack laptops and computer facilities, ifso, the details thereof;
- (d) whether the Government has taken note of the complaints made by the people  regarding  repeated  crashing  of  system  and  occurrence  of technical  errors  while  logging  into  the  system  affecting  the  smooth running of the proceedings; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF LAW AND JUSTICE (SHRI KIREN RIJIJU)

(a) to (c): The decision to follow the virtual mode of court hearing is a matter which  falls strictly under  the purview  of  the judiciary and  the Central Government has no role to play in this matter. Since Covid lockdown started, the  District  Courts  heard  1,23,19,917  cases  while  the  High  Courts  heard

61,02,859  cases  (totalling  1.84  cr)  till  28.02.2022  using  Video-Conferencing (VC).  The  Supreme  Court  held  2,18,891  hearings  till  14.03.2022  since  the beginning of lockdown period making it the world leader in virtual hearings. To bring about uniformity and standardization in the conduct of VC, an overarching order was passed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India on 6th April  2020  which  gave  legal  sanctity  and  validity  to  the  court  hearings  done through VC. Further, VC rules were framed by a 5-judge committee which was circulated to all the High Courts for adoption after local contextualization. 24 High Courts have implemented Video Conferencing rules. One video conference equipment each has been provided to all Court Complexes including taluk level courts and additionally funds have been sanctioned for additional VC equipment for 14,443 court rooms. Funds for setting up 2506 VC Cabins have been  made  available.  Additional  1500  VC  Licenses  have  been  acquired.  VC facilities are already enabled between 3240 court complexes and corresponding 1272 jails. A sum of Rs. 7.60 crore has been released for procurement of 1732 Document  Visualizers.Lack of access to computers, laptops and digital hardware amongst lawyers in rural areas and resultant digital divide is a genuine problem.  To  overcome  this  problem  of  digital  divide,  493  number  of  eSewa Kendras have been setup in High Courts and district courts across the country which give lawyers easy access to eCourt facilities and internet facility.

(d) &(e): To resolve technical glitches which arise during VC hearings, NIC has been  closely  monitoring  the  complaints.  NIC  has  developed  a  VC  software which  is  under  test  phase.  MeitY  (Ministry  of  Electronics  and  Information Technology)  has  also  undertaken  an  exercise  to  develop  indigenous  VC software. Regular coordination meetings are held with BSNL to resolve issues regarding connectivity. Also, a portal to lodge complaints regarding connectivity & bandwidth related issues has been developed for monitoring and faster resolution of such complaints.