Lok Sabha Question No. 2221 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-12-10
Subject: e-Courts
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: Anubhav Mohanty

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 2221 TO BE ANSWERED ON FRIDAY, THE 10 th  DECEMBER, 2021

## e-Courts

## 2221.  SHRI ANUBHAV MOHANTY

Will the Minister of Law and Justice be pleased to state

- (a)  whether  it  is  a  fact  that  the  Government  has  established  e-Courts  in Jabalpur, Guwahati, Jodhpur and Raipur;
- (b) if so, the status of such e-courts;
- (c) whether they are functioning efficiently, if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether the Government has any plans of establishing such e-Courts in other cities/States including that of Odisha; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

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

- (a) to (c) : The Districts and Taluka Courts of Jabalpur, Guwahati, Jodhpur and Raipur  have  been  computerized  under  the  eCourts  Project  and  linked  to  the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG).  As per the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) status of cases in Jabalpur, Guwahati, Jodhpur and Raipur districts are as follows:

| Cases as per NJDG as on 03.12.2021   | Cases as per NJDG as on 03.12.2021   | Cases as per NJDG as on 03.12.2021   | Cases as per NJDG as on 03.12.2021   | Cases as per NJDG as on 03.12.2021   |
|--------------------------------------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------------------|
| Sr No                                | District                             | Civil Cases C                        | Criminal Cases D                     | Total Cases E=C+D                    |
| A 1                                  | B Jabalpur                           | 38759                                | 93864                                | 132623                               |
| 2                                    | Jodhpur                              | 5646                                 | 20094                                | 25740                                |
| 3                                    | Jodhpur Metro                        | 25720                                | 76475                                | 102195                               |
| 4                                    | Raipur                               | 12562                                | 61715                                | 74277                                |
| 5                                    | Kamrup                               | 3687                                 | 8708                                 | 12395                                |
| 6                                    | Kamrup Metro                         | 22880                                | 44156                                | 67036                                |

(d)  to  (e)  :  Government  has  been  implementing  the  e-Courts  Mission  Mode Project throughout the country including Odishafor Information and Communication  Technology  enablement  of  district  and  subordinate  courts. Number  of  computerized  District  &  Subordinate  courts including those located    in  Odisha  have  increased  to  18,735  as  on  01.12.2021.  WAN connectivity has been provided to 98.7% of court complexes. New and userfriendly  version  of  Case  Information  Software  has  been  developed  and deployed at all the computerized District and Subordinate Courts. All stakeholders  including  Judicial  Officers  can  access  information  relating  to judicial proceedings/ decisions of computerized District & Subordinate Courts and High  Courts on the National Judicial Data Grid  (NJDG).  As  on 03.12.2021, litigants can access case status of over 19.76 crore cases and 15.99 crore orders/ judgements pertaining to these courts. eCourts services such as details  of  case  registration,  cause  list,  case  status,  daily  orders  &  final judgments are available to litigants and advocates through eCourts web portal, Judicial  Service  Centres  (JSC)  in  all  computerized  courts,  eCourts  Mobile App, email service, SMS push & pull services.  An e-filing system introduced in  the  year  2018  has  been  upgraded  to  version  3.0  with  advanced  and  user

friendly features. Video Conferencing facility has been enabled between 3240 court  complexes  and  1272  corresponding  jails.  With  a  view  to  handle  the COVID-19  challenges  better  and  to  make  the  transition  to  virtual  hearings smoother, funds have been provided for setting up 235 e-SewaKendras at court complexes to facilitate lawyers and litigants needing assistance ranging from case  status,  getting  judgements/orders,  court/case  related  information  and eFiling facilities. Rs. 5.01 crore has been allocated for providing equipment in Video  Conferencing  cabins  in  various  court  complexes  to  facilitate  virtual hearings. Rs. 12.12 crore has been allocated for 1732 Help desk counters for filing in various court complexes.

Fifteen Virtual Courts have been set up in 11 States/UTs viz. Delhi (2), Haryana, Tamil Nadu,  Karnataka, Kerala (2), Maharashtra (2),  Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jammu and Kashmir (2), Uttar Pradesh and Odisha to try traffic offences. As on 03.12.2021, these courts have handled more than 1.07 crore cases  and  realised  more  than  Rs.201.96  crore  in  fines.  The  Virtual  Court  in Odisha was started in August 2021.

Video conferencing emerged as the mainstay of the Courts during the Covid lockdown period as physical hearings and normal court proceedings in the congregational mode were not possible. 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 heard 1,50,692 hearings since the lockdown period upto 29.10.2021.  The  High  Court  of  Orissa has heard 2,18,073 cases  from 23.03.2020  to  31.10.2021  while  the  District  Courts  in  Odisha  have  heard 1,81,653 cases from 01.03.2020 to 31.10.2021 (totalling to 3,99,726).

Live streaming of cases is functional from 02.08.2021 in High Court of Orissa. The High Court's e-Services Mobile App to help lawyers and litigants in availing cases and Court related information from the convenience of their smartphones  was  launched  on  02.08.2021.  Besides  providing  Case  Status, Cause List, New Cases Filed, Judgment/Orders, Defect Status, Certified Copy Status, the Mobile App also features a live Display Board for all Benches and a Digital Notice Board of the Court. The 'Free Text Search' facility conceptualized  by  the  e-Committee,  Supreme  Court  of  India  for  searching judgments  and  orders  of  the  High  Court  has  been  integrated  with  the  High Court's Mobile App for convenient access.

The High Court of Orissa has launched a Software Module called the Order  Communication  Portal  (OCP)  to  facilitate  secure  and  instantaneous communication of High Court's orders and judgments to Subordinate Courts in a  paperless  environment,  thereby  saving  resources  and  time  consumed  in traditional methods of correspondence.

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