Lok Sabha Question No. 2195 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-12-10
Subject: Video Conferencing in Criminal Cases
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: Khagen Murmu

(a) : No Sir.

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 2195 TO BE ANSWERED ON FRIDAY, THE 10 th  DECEMBER, 2021

## Video Conferencing in Criminal Cases

## 2195. SHRI KHAGEN MURMU:

Will the Minister of Law and Justice be pleased to state

- (a)  whether  the  Government  has  conducted  any  study  to  understand  why video  conferencing  in  criminal  cases  has  neither  shortened  trials  nor reduced  the  number  of  people  awaiting  trial  and  need  to  address  uneven digital access for the purpose;
- (b) if so, the details of the remedial steps taken by the Government keeping in  view  the  fact  that  while  mobile  phones  are  widely  owned  and  used, access  to  the  internet  remains  limited  to  urban  users  and  lawyers  in  semi urban  and  rural  districts  find  online  hearings  challenging,  mostly  due  to connectivity issues and an unfamiliarity with this way of working; and (c) if not, the reasons therefor?

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

(b) & (c):  During the Covid lockdown period physical hearings and normal court  proceedings  in  the  congregational  mode  were  not  possible.  The initialtechnical  glitches  were  gradually  tackled  and  video  conferencing emerged  as  the  mainstay  of  the  courts.  A  variety  of  platforms  are  being used  to  conduct  hearings  through  video  conferencing  such  as  Vidyo Connect,Jitsi Meet, Zoom,  Cisco WebEx,  Google  Meet,  WhatsApp, Microsoft  Teams  etc.Since  Covid  lockdown  started,  the  District  courts heard  1,01,77,289  cases  while  the  High  Court  heard  55,24,021  cases (totalling to 1.57 core) till 31.10.2021 using video conferencing only. The Supreme Court of India held 1,50,692 hearings duringthis period upto 29. 10.2021, making it the world leader.

To further improve the video-conferencing facilities, one video conference  equipment  each  has  been  provided  to  all  Court  Complexes including Taluk level courts and funds have been sanctioned for additional VC  equipment  for  14,443  court  rooms.  Funds  for  setting  up  2506  VC Cabins  have  been  made  available  to  High  Courts.  Additional  1500  VC Licenses  have  been  acquired.  VC  facilities  are  already  enabled  between 3240  court  complexes  and  corresponding  1272  jails.Funds  have  been released to High Courts for procurement of 1732 Document Visualizers.

To  bridge  the  ICT  access  divide  amongst  stake-holders  in  the  court eco-system, funds have been released for setting up 235 eSewa Kendras at all  High  Courts  and  one  District  Court  in  every  state.A  Nyay  Kaushal Centre has been started in Nagpur to provide all e-facilities along with VC facilities.  Mobile  e-Courts  vehicles  for  video  conferencing  for  speedy disposal  of  cases  equipped  with  Wi-Fi  and  computers  were  started  in Telangana and Uttarakhand. The Wide Area Network (WAN) Project under

eCourts  project  aimed  at  connecting  all  District  and  Subordinate  court complexes was geared up across the country by using available alternative technologies like OFC, RF, VSAT.  So far, 2956 sites have been commissioned  out  of  2992  sites  with  10  Mbps  to  100  Mbps  bandwidth speed  (completing 98.7%  sites).  This  forms  the  backbone  for  the  eCourts project for ensuring data connectivity in courts across the length and breadth of the country.

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