Lok Sabha Question No. 866 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-07-26
Subject: Funds For E-courts
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: Shri Vishaldada Prakashbapu Patil

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 866

## TO BE ANSWERED ON FRIDAY, THE 26 th  JULY, 2024

## Funds For E-courts

## 866. SHRI VISHALDADA PRAKASHBAPU PATIL:

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

- (a) the details of sub-heads under the Budget allocated for the e-Courts project;
- (b) the details of actual utilisation of the funds allocated in the last three years;
- (c) the  details  of  distribution  of  the  funds  between  Supreme  Court,  High  Court and Lower courts; and
- (d) the details of distribution of the funds allocated for the project, State-wise?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF  LAW  AND  JUSTICE; AND  MINISTER  OF  STATE  IN  THE MINISTRY OF PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS

## (SHRI ARJUN RAM MEGHWAL)

(a): The eCourts Mission Mode Project is a National eGovernance project for ICT enablement  of  Indian  Judiciary  of  the  country  with  a  view  to  facilitate  faster disposal of cases by speeding up court processes and providing transparent on-line flow of information on case status, orders/judgments etc. to the judiciary as well as litigants,  lawyers  and  other  stakeholders.  The  eCourts  Phase  I  (2011-15)  was aimed at basic computerization of courts and providing local network connectivity. Phase  II  (2015-23)  of  the  project  focused  on  citizen-centric  e-services  besides

computerising  18735  courts  and  interconnecting  these  with  wide  area  network (WAN). The Union Cabinet on 13.09.2023 has approved eCourts Phase-III with a budgetary  outlay  of  Rs.7,210  crore  for  a  period  of  4  years  starting  from  2023 onwards.  Taking  the  gains  of  Phase-I  and  Phase-II  to  the  next  level,  e-Courts Phase-III aims to usher in a regime of maximum ease of justice by moving towards digital, online and paperless courts through digitization of the entire court records including  legacy  records  and  by  bringing  in  universalization  of  e-Filing/  ePayments  through  saturation  of  all  court  complexes  with  e-Sewa  Kendras.  The component wise budget allocation under eCourts Phase III is at Annexure I.

(b):  The  details  of  actual  utilisation  of  funds  allocated  in  last  three  years  is  as under:

| Year      | Revised Estimate (Rs. Crore)   | Total Expenditure (Rs. Crore)   |
|-----------|--------------------------------|---------------------------------|
| Phase II  |                                |                                 |
| 2021-22   | 98.82                          | 98.30                           |
| 2022-23   | 0.01*                          | 0.00                            |
| Phase III |                                |                                 |
| 2023-24   | 825.00                         | 768.25                          |

(c) to (d): The eCourts Phase I and Phase II were meant for the ICT development of  the  District  &  Subordinate  Courts  only.  The  Supreme  Court  and  the  High Courts did not form part of the project. However, funds to all Subordinate Courts were  provided  through  the concerned  High  Courts  only,  as they are the implementing agency under the  eCourts Project.  Statement  of  High  Court  wise fund release and utilization is placed at Annexure II.

*****

## Annexure I

Statement  referred  to  in  reply  of  Lok  Sabha  Unstarred  Question  No.  866  for 26/07/2024 regarding Funds For E-courts. The components and financial details of eCourts Phase III are as below:

Cost Estimate

| S.No.   | Scheme Component                                                |   Cost Estimate (Total (In Rs. Cr.)) |
|---------|-----------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------|
| 1       | Scanning, Digitization and Digital Preservation of Case Records |                              2038.4  |
| 2       | Cloud Infrastructure                                            |                              1205.23 |
| 3       | Additional hardware to existing courts                          |                               643.66 |
| 4       | Infrastructure in newly set up courts                           |                               426.25 |
| 5       | Virtual Courts                                                  |                               413.08 |
| 6       | eSewa Kendra                                                    |                               394.48 |
| 7       | Paperless Court                                                 |                               359.2  |
| 8       | System and Application Software Development                     |                               243.52 |
| 9       | Solar Power Backup                                              |                               229.5  |
| 10      | Video Conferencing set-up                                       |                               228.48 |
| 11      | e- filing                                                       |                               215.97 |
| 12      | Connectivity (Primary + Redundancy)                             |                               208.72 |
| 13      | Capacity Building                                               |                               208.52 |
| 14      | CLASS (Courtroom Live-Audio Visual Streaming System)            |                               112.26 |
| 15      | Project Management Unit                                         |                                56.67 |
| 16      | Future Technological Advancements                               |                                53.57 |
| 17      | Judicial process re-engineering                                 |                                33    |
| 18      | Disabled friendly ICT enabled facilities                        |                                27.54 |
| 19      | NSTEP                                                           |                                25.75 |
| 20      | Online Dispute Resolution (ODR)                                 |                                23.72 |
| 21      | Knowledge Management System                                     |                                23.3  |
| 22      | e-Office for High Courts &District Courts                       |                                21.1  |
| 23      | Integration with Inter-Operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS)  |                                11.78 |
| 24      | S3WAAS platform                                                 |                                 6.35 |
|         | TOTAL                                                           |                              7210    |

## Annexure II

Statement  referred  to  in  reply  of  Lok  Sabha  Unstarred  Question  No.  866  for 26/07/2024 regarding Funds For E-courts. Details of High Court wise release and utilization of funds is as below:

|     |                             | Phase II   | Phase II   | Phase II   | Phase II   | Phase III   | Phase III   |
|-----|-----------------------------|------------|------------|------------|------------|-------------|-------------|
| S.  |                             | 2021-22    | 2021-22    | 2022-23 #  | 2022-23 #  | 2023-24     | 2023-24     |
| No. | High Courts                 | Released   | Utilized   | Released   | Utilized   | Released    | Utilized    |
| 1   | Allahabad                   |            |            | 0          | 0          | 95.87       | 95.87       |
| 2   | Andhra Pradesh              |            |            | 0          | 0          | 25.44       | 25.44       |
| 3   | Bombay                      |            |            | 0          | 0          | 69.54       | 69.54       |
| 4   | Calcutta                    |            |            | 0          | 0          | 16.73       | 16.73       |
| 5   | Chhattisgarh                |            |            | 0          | 0          | 16.27       | 16.27       |
| 6   | Delhi                       |            |            | 0          | 0          | 17.89       | 17.89       |
| 7   | Gauhati (Arunachal Pradesh) | 1.26       | 1.18       | 0          | 0          | 2.03        | 2.03        |
| 8   | Gauhati (Assam)             | 3.49       | 3.48       | 0          | 0          | 24.97       | 24.97       |
| 9   | Gauhati (Mizoram)           | 0.30       | 0.25       | 0          | 0          | 3.12        | 3.12        |
| 10  | Gauhati (Nagaland)          | 0.84       | 0.84       | 0          | 0          | 1.79        | 1.79        |
| 11  | Gujarat                     |            |            | 0          | 0          | 27.72       | 27.72       |
| 12  | Himachal Pradesh            |            |            | 0          | 0          | 6.06        | 6.06        |
| 13  | Jammu &Kashmir              |            |            | 0          | 0          | 6.52        | 6.52        |
| 14  | Jharkhand                   |            |            | 0          | 0          | 10.59       | 10.59       |
| 15  | Karnataka                   |            |            | 0          | 0          | 32.37       | 32.37       |
| 16  | Kerala                      | 1.58       | 1.58       | 0          | 0          | 15.40       | 15.40       |
| 17  | Madhya Pradesh              |            |            | 0          | 0          | 22.90       | 22.90       |
| 18  | Madras                      |            |            | 0          | 0          | 90.69       | 90.69       |
| 19  | Manipur                     | 0.76       | 0.75       | 0          | 0          | 11.12       | 11.12       |
| 20  | Meghalaya                   | 2.23       | 1.76       | 0          | 0          | 3.33        | 3.33        |
| 21  | Orissa                      |            |            | 0          | 0          | 6.77        | 6.77        |
| 22  | Patna                       |            |            | 0          | 0          | 32.43       | 32.43       |
| 23  | Punjab &Haryana             |            |            | 0          | 0          | 14.58       | 14.58       |
| 24  | Rajasthan                   | 1.62       | 1.62       | 0          | 0          | 19.80       | 19.80       |
| 25  | Sikkim                      | 0.77       | 0.60       | 0          | 0          | 1.71        | 1.71        |
| 26  | Telangana                   |            |            | 0          | 0          | 22.03       | 22.03       |
| 27  | Tripura                     | 0.96       | 0.87       | 0          | 0          | 0.53        | 0.53        |
| 28  | Uttarakhand                 |            |            | 0          | 0          | 13.68       | 13.68       |
|     | Total                       | 13.81      | 12.92      | 0          | 0          | 611.88      | 611.88      |

# Funds under the eCourts Phase II were exhausted and the DPR for eCourts Phase III was under preparation by eCommittee, Supreme Court of India. Hence, no funds were released during FY 2022-23.