Lok Sabha Question No. 2696 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-08-04
Subject: E-Court Project
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: M.K. Vishnu Prasad

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 2696 TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, THE 4 th  AUGUST, 2021

## E-Court Project

## 2696. DR. VISHNU PRASAD M.K.:

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

- (a) whether the Government proposes to implement the e-Court project in the country with a view to upgrading information and communication technology infrastructure  in various  courts  including  High  Court and District Courts;
- (b) if so, the details thereof and the funds spent so far;
- (c)  the  time  by  which  all  the  courts  will  be  connected  with  video conferencing;
- (d)  the total number of cases pending in Supreme Court of India and  High Court of  Tamilnadu; and
- (e)  the steps taken by the Government to clear the pending cases in a time bound manner?

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

(a) to (c): Yes, Sir. The Government is implementing the e-Courts Mission Mode  Project  for  Information  and  Communication  Technology  (ICT)

enablement  of  District  and  Subordinate  Courts  across  the  country  in association with the eCommittee of the Supreme Court of India. The eCourts Mission Mode Project Phase-II commenced its implementation in 2015. So far, 18,735 District and Subordinate Courts have been computerized.  Out of 2992 court complexes Wide Area Network connectivity has been provided to 2945 court complexes.  Against the financial outlay of Rs.1670 crores for eCourts Phase-II, the Government has so far released a sum of Rs. 1582.11 crore for implementation of the project.

With the computerization of 18,735 District and Subordinate Courts and  ICT  enablement  under  the  eCourts  Project  Phase-II,  several  services have  been  provided  to  litigants,  lawyers  and  Judiciary  which  facilitate expeditious delivery of judicial services. 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 eCourts Mobile App, email service, SMS push & SMS pull services and touch screen based Information Kiosks. National Judicial Data Grid  (NJDG)  for  District  &  Subordinate  Courts,  created  as  an  online platform under the Project, provides information relating to judicial proceedings/decisions  of  computerized  District  and  Subordinate  courts  of the  country.  Currently,  all  stakeholders  including  Judicial  Officers  can access case status information in respect of over 18.77 crore pending and disposed cases and more than 14.61 crore orders / judgments pertaining to these  computerized  courts  on  the  NJDG.  Video  Conferencing  facility  has been enabled between 3240 court complexes & 1272 corresponding jails.

One video conference equipment each has been provided to all Court Complexes including Taluk Level Court Complexes in rural areas under the Phase II of the e-Courts Project for virtual hearings.  To further augment the Video  Conferencing  (VC)  infrastructure,  the  eCommittee  of  the  Supreme Court has approved VC equipment to be provided to 14,443 court rooms in those  court  complexes  for  which  funds  to  the  tune  of  Rs.28.88  crore  has been released. During the pandemic period the High Courts heard 40,43,300 cases,  while  District  and  Subordinate  Courts  heard  74,15,981 cases over Video Conferencing  up to 30/06/2021.

(d):    As  on  02.07.2021,  a  total  number  of  69,212  cases  are  pending  in Hon'ble Supreme Court of India. As on 28.07.2021, as per data available on NJDG, total number of cases pending in Madras High Court are 5,82,903.

(e) :  Disposal of cases pending in courts is within the domain of Judiciary. Though Government has no role in disposal of cases in courts, the Central Government  is  committed  to  speedy  disposal  of  cases  and  reduction  in pendency. Further to reduce the burden of court cases, the National Mission for  Justice  Delivery  and  Legal  Reforms  has  been  pursuing  a  co-ordinated approach for phased liquidation of arrears and pendency  in judicial administration,  which, inter-alia, involves  better  infrastructure  for  courts including  computerization,  increase  in  strength  of  subordinate  judiciary, policy and legislative measures in the areas prone to excessive litigation, reengineering of court procedure and setting up of Fast Track Courts for quick disposal  of  cases,  use  of  Alternative  Dispute  Resolution  mechanism  and emphasis on human resource development.

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