Lok Sabha Question No. 4926 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-04-01
Subject: Compulsory e-filing of cases
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: Vishnu Dayal Ram

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 4926 TO BE ANSWERED ON FRIDAY, THE 01 st APRIL, 2022

## Compulsory e-filing of cases

## 4926.   SHRI VISHNU DAYAL RAM:

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

- (a)  whether  the  compulsory  e-filing  of  cases  and  documents  in  courts undertaken  during  the  COVID-19  pandemic  will  be  continued  as  a permanent measure;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether  the  Government  has  taken  any  other  initiatives  to  reduce excessive waste of paper when legal proceedings are undertaken; and
- (d)   if so, the details thereof?

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

(a)  &  (b):  The  decision  for  continued  compulsory  e-filing  of  cases  and documents in the Courts is an administrative matter which falls strictly within the purview and domain of the Judiciary and Central Government has no role to play in the matter.However, Department of Justice has requested all Central & State  Government  Departments  including  the  Public  Sector  Undertakings (PSUs) to use eFiling in all commercial disputes coming up in the commercial courts.  Further,  instructions  have  been  issued  by  eCommittee  of  the  Supreme

Court to all High Courts to ensure that all Government litigation should be efiled. Department of Justice has also advised all Central Ministries/ Departments to use eFiling in all Government litigation. A similar communication has  also  been  sent  by  the  Department  of  Legal  Affairs  to  all Ministries/  Departments  of  the  Government  of  India,  as  well  as  to  all  Law Officers for e-filing in respect of litigationon behalf of Union of India by the Ministries/Departments  concerned,  includingAutonomous  Bodies/Subordinate Offices/Attached Offices and PSUs under theiradministrative control.

(c) & (d): The Department of Justice in close coordination with eCommittee of Supreme Court of India is implementing the eCourts Phase I and Phase II with objective of universal computerisation of all the District & Subordinate Court complexes. This has helped in digitization  which has resulted in  reduction  of excessive  waste  of  paper  during  legal  proceedings.The  following  steps  have been taken up under eCourts project by the eCommittee of the Supreme Court and the Department of Justice:

- i. Under  the  Wide  Area  Network  (WAN)  Project,  2964  courts  sites  have been commissioned with 10 Mbps to 100 Mbps bandwidth speed.
- ii. Case Information Software (CIS) which forms the basis for the e-Court services is based on customized Free and Open-Source Software (FOSS) which has been developed by NIC. Currently CIS National Core Version 3.2 is being implemented in District Courts and the CIS National Core Version 1.0 is being implemented for the High Courts.
- iii. A new software patch and user manual for COVID-19 management has also been developed to help in smart scheduling of cases.
- iv. National Judicial  Data  Grid  (NJDG)  is  a  database  of  orders,  judgments and  cases,  created  as  an  online  platform  under  the  eCourts  Project.  It provides  information  relating  to  judicial  proceedings/decisions  of  all computerized  district  and  subordinate  courts  of  the  country.  Litigants

can access case status information in respect of over  19.92 crore cases and  more  than 16.61 crore  orders  / judgments  pertaining to these computerized (as on 02.03.2022). Open APIs have been introduced in 2020 to allow Central and State Governments and institutional litigants including  local  bodies  to  access  NJDG  data  to  improve  pendency monitoring and compliance.

- v. As part of eCourts project, 7 platforms have been created to provide real time information on case status, cause lists, judgements etc. to lawyers/Litigants  through  SMS  Push  and  Pull  (2,00,000  SMS  sent daily),  Email  (2,50,000  sent  daily),  multilingual  and  tactile  eCourts services Portal  (35  lakh  hits  daily),  JSC  (Judicial  Service  centres)  and Info Kiosks.  In addition, Electronic Case Management Tools (ECMT) have  been  created  with  Mobile  App  for  lawyers  (total  75.76  lakh downloads till 28th February 2022) and JustIS app for judges (17,013 downloads till 3rd March 2022). JustIS mobile app is now available in iOS as well.
- vi. 17 Virtual Courts in 13 States/UTs have been operationalized to handle traffic challan cases. More than 1.32 crore cases have been handled by 17  virtual  courts  and  in  more  than 22 lakhs  cases  online  fine  of  more than Rs. 229 crore has been realised till 03.03.2022.
- vii. The Supreme Court of India emerged as a global leader by conducting 2,18,891 hearings  (till 14.03.2022  since  the  beginning  of  lockdown period).  The  High  Courts  (61,02,859  cases  and  Subordinate  Courts (1,23,19,917  cases)  have  conducted  1.84  crore  virtual  hearings  till 28.02.2022.  VC  facilities  have  also  been  enabled  between  3240  court complexes and corresponding 1272 jails. Funds for 2506 VC cabins and VC equipment for 14,443 courtrooms have also been released. 1500 VC licenses have been procured to promote virtual hearings. A sum of Rs.

7.60  crore  has  been  released  for  procurement  of  1732  Document Visualizers.

- viii. New e-filing system (version 3.0) has been rolled out for the electronic filing  of  legal  papers  with  upgraded  features.    Draft eFiling rules  have been formulated and circulated to the High Courts for adoption.
- ix. e-Filing of cases requires the option for electronic payment of fees which includes court fees, fines and penalties which are directly payable to the Consolidated Fund. The Court Fees Act has been amended in 23 High Courts till 28.02.2022.
- x. Government has released Rs. 12.54 crore for setting up eSewa Kendras. As on 28.02.2022, 493 eSewa Kendra's have been made functional in District Courts under 25 High Courts.
- xi. National Service and Tracking of Electronic Processes (NSTEP) has been launched for technology enabled process serving and issuing of summons. It has currently been implemented in 26 States/ UTs.
- xii. A new 'Judgment Search' portal has been started with features such as search by Bench, Case Type, Case Number, Year, Petitioner/ Respondent Name, Judge Name, Act, Section, Decision: From Date, To Date and Full Text Search. This facility is being provided free of cost to all.
- xiii. To make effective use of database created through National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) and to make the information available to public 32 LED Display Message Sign Board System called Justice Clocks, have been installed in 21 High Courts.
- xiv. Towards  creating  widespread  awareness  and  familiarization  of  eFiling and eCourts services and to address 'skill divide', a manual on eFiling and  a  Brochure  on  'How  to  register  for  eFiling'  has  been  made available in English, Hindi and 12 regional languages for the use of the lawyers.  A  YouTube  channel  has  been  created  in  the  name  of  the  e

Court services with video tutorials  on eFiling.  The  eCommittee  of  the Supreme Court of India has conducted trainings and awareness programmes  on  the  ICT  services.  These  programmes  have  covered nearly  3,60,993  stakeholders,  including  High  Court  Judges,  Judges  of the District Judiciary, Court Staff, Master Trainers among Judges/DSA, Technical Staff of High Courts, and Advocates.

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