Lok Sabha Question No. 4956 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-04-01
Subject: Virtual Hearing of Cases
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: Basanta Kumar Panda

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LAW & JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. †4956. TO BE ANSWERED ON FRIDAY, THE 1 st  April, 2022

## VIRTUAL HEARING OF CASES

## †4956. SHRI BASANTA KUMAR PANDA:

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

(a)  the  number  of  cases  disposed  in  the  lower  courts  of  the  country  through digital/virtual mode, State/UT-wise including Odisha; and

(b) whether the Government  has assessed the reaction of the people of the country/lawyers/judicial  officials  with  regard  to  digital  hearing  of  cases  in  lower courts?

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

(a): The number of cases disposed in the lower courts of the country during the Covid lockdown through digital/virtual mode, State/UT-wise including Odisha is at Annexure .

(b): No,  Sir.  Though  no  evaluation  exercise  has  been  made  in  this  regard,  however, Video-Conferencing  emerged  as  the  mainstay  of  the  Courts  during  the  Covid  lockdown period  as  physical  hearings  when  normal  court  proceedings  in  the  congregational  mode were not possible. Since Covid lockdown started, the District courts heard 1,11,40,223 cases while  the  High  Court  heard  60,21,688  cases  (totalling  1.71  crore)  till  31.01.2022  using video  conferencing.  The  Supreme  Court  held  2,18,891  hearings  till  14.03.2022  since  the beginning of lockdown period. To bring about uniformity and standardization in the conduct of  Video  Conferencing  (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.  A  total  of  23 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. Virtual hearing of the cases by the Courts has helped the entire legal  ecosystem  including the  litigants  and  lawyers  as  it  helps  them  to  appear  before  the court  from  any  location  of  their  choice  thus  leading  to  considerable  saving  of  time  and money.

******

## Annexure

## STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (A)  OF  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4956 FOR ANSWER ON 01.04.2022 REGARDING VIRTUAL HEARING OF CASES.

| S. No   | High Court                  | Total Number of cases dealt on video conferencing in District Courts   | Total Number of cases dealt on video conferencing in District Courts   | Total Number of cases dealt on video conferencing in District Courts   |
|---------|-----------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| S. No   | High Court                  | From Date                                                              | To Date                                                                | Total Cases                                                            |
| 1       | Allahabad                   | 22-3-2020                                                              | 31-1-2022                                                              | 2621390                                                                |
| 2       | Andhra Pradesh              | 26-3-2020                                                              | 31-10-2021                                                             | 266489                                                                 |
| 3       | Bombay                      | 1-1-2022                                                               | 31-1-2022                                                              | 8058                                                                   |
| 4       | Calcutta                    | 22-3-2020                                                              | 31-1-2022                                                              | 67807                                                                  |
| 5       | Chhattisgarh                | 22-3-2020                                                              | 31-1-2022                                                              | 29929                                                                  |
| 6       | Delhi                       | 22-3-2020                                                              | 31-1-2022                                                              | 2587120                                                                |
| 7       | Gauhati - Arunachal Pradesh | 22-3-2020                                                              | 31-1-2022                                                              | 8128                                                                   |
| 8       | Gauhati -Assam              | 26-3-2020                                                              | 31-1-2022                                                              | 251096                                                                 |
| 9       | Gauhati - Mizoram           | 23-3-2020                                                              | 31-1-2022                                                              | 13268                                                                  |
| 10      | Gauhati - Nagaland          | 22-3-2020                                                              | 31-1-2022                                                              | 541                                                                    |
| 11      | Gujarat                     | 23-3-2020                                                              | 31-12-2021                                                             | 147956                                                                 |
| 12      | Himachal Pradesh            | 22-3-2020                                                              | 31-1-2022                                                              | 32890                                                                  |
| 13      | Jammu and Kashmir           | 22-3-2020                                                              | 31-1-2022                                                              | 224981                                                                 |
| 14      | Jharkhand                   | 22-3-2020                                                              | 31-1-2022                                                              | 629002                                                                 |
| 15      | Karnataka                   | 23-3-2020                                                              | 31-1-2022                                                              | 107031                                                                 |
| 16      | Kerala                      | 24-3-2020                                                              | 31-1-2022                                                              | 383815                                                                 |
| 17      | Madhya Pradesh              | 23-3-2020                                                              | 31-12-2021                                                             | 657363                                                                 |
| 18      | Madras                      | 26-3-2020                                                              | 31-1-2022                                                              | 288320                                                                 |
| 19      | Manipur*                    | 15-4-2020                                                              | 30-11-2021                                                             | 9423                                                                   |
| 20      | Meghalaya                   | 22-3-2022                                                              | 31-1-2022                                                              | 9988                                                                   |
| 21      | Orissa                      | 19-3-2020                                                              | 31-1-2022                                                              | 200821                                                                 |
| 22      | Patna                       | 24-3-2020                                                              | 31-1-2022                                                              | 1635118                                                                |
| 23      | Punjab and Haryana          | 22-3-2020                                                              | 31-1-2022                                                              | 574578                                                                 |
| 24      | Rajasthan                   | 22-3-2020                                                              | 31-1-2022                                                              | 165938                                                                 |
| 25      | Sikkim                      | 24-3-2020                                                              | 14-11-2021                                                             | 6283                                                                   |
| 26      | Telangana                   | 22-3-2020                                                              | 31-12-2021                                                             | 163695                                                                 |
| 27      | Tripura                     | 22-3-2020                                                              | 31-1-2022                                                              | 9903                                                                   |
| 28      | Uttarakhand                 | 15-4-2020                                                              | 31-1-2022                                                              | 39292                                                                  |