Lok Sabha Question No. 3748 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-08-11
Subject: Functional e-Courts
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: Kripanath Mallah

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 3748

## TO BE ANSWERED ON FRIDAY, THE 11 th  AUGUST, 2023

## Functional e-Courts

## 3748. SHRI KRIPANATH MALLAH:

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

- (a)
- the number of e-courts functional across the country;
- the details of the funds sanctioned, allocated and utilized for the e-court project during the last three years and the current year across the country,
- (b) State-wise including Assam; and
- (c) the details of the targets set and achievements made so far along with the response received thereon?

## ANSWER

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

## (SHRI ARJUN RAM MEGHWAL)

- (a):  The  High  Court  wise  details  of  functional  eCourts  in  the  country  has  been attached at Annexure-I.
- (b)  to  (c):  As  part  of  the  National  eGovernance  Plan,  the  eCourts  Mission  Mode Project  is  under  implementation  for  Information  and  Communication  Technology (ICT) development of the Indian Judiciary based on the 'National Policy and Action Plan  for  Implementation  of  Information  and  Communication  Technology  in  the Indian Judiciary'. eCourts project is being implemented by Department of Justice in association with eCommittee Supreme Court of India.  Phase I of the eCourts project

was implemented between 2011-2015. Phase II of the project extended from 20152023.  The  Government  has  taken  the  following  e-initiatives to make  justice accessible and available for all: -

- i. Under  the  Wide  Area  Network  (WAN)  Project,  connectivity  has  been provided to 99.4% (2976 out of earmarked 2994) of total Court Complexes across India with 10 Mbps to 100 Mbps bandwidth speed.
- ii. National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) is a database of orders, judgments, and cases,  created  as  an  online  platform  under  the  eCourts  Project.  It  provides information  relating  to  judicial  proceedings/decisions  of  all  computerized district and subordinate courts of the country. Litigants can access case status information  in  respect  of  over  23.58 crore  cases  and  more  than 22.56 crore orders / judgments (as on 01.08.2023).
- iii. Case Information Software (CIS) based on customized Free and Open-Source Software (FOSS) has been developed.  Currently CIS National Core Version 3.2  is  being  implemented  in  District  Courts  and  the  CIS  National  Core Version 1.0 is being implemented for the High Courts.
- iv. A new software patch and court user manual for COVID-19 management has also been developed.  This tool will help in smart scheduling of cases thereby enabling judicial officers to retain urgent cases and adjourn cases not urgent on cause list.   A user manual for this patch has also been issued for the ease of the stakeholders.
- v. As part of eCourts project, 7 platforms have been created to provide real time information on case status, cause lists,  judgements  etc.  to  lawyers/Litigants through SMS Push and Pull (2,00,000 SMS sent daily), Email (2,50,000 sent daily),  multilingual  and  tactile  eCourts  services  Portal  (35  lakh  hits  daily), JSC (Judicial Service centres) and Info Kiosks.  In addition, Electronic Case Management Tools (ECMT) have been created with Mobile App for lawyers (total 1.88 crore downloads till 30.06.2023) and JustIS app for judges (19,164 downloads till 30.06.2023).

- vi. India  has  emerged  as  a  global  leader  in  conducting  court  hearing  through Video  Conferencing.  The  District  &  Subordinate  courts  heard  1,98,67,081 cases while the High Courts heard 78,69,708cases (totalling 2.77 crore) till 30.06.2023 using video conferencing system. The Hon'ble Supreme Court of India held 4,82,941 hearings through video conferencing till 15.05.2023. VC facilities have also been enabled between  3240  court  complexes  and corresponding 1272 jails. Funds for 2506 VC cabins and VC equipment for 14,443  courtrooms  have  also  been  released.  1500  VC  licenses  have  been procured to promote virtual hearings.
- vii. Live  Streaming  of  court  proceedings  has  been  started  in  High  Courts  of Gujarat,  Gauhati,  Orissa,  Karnataka,  Jharkhand,  Patna,  Madhya  Pradesh  & Hon'ble  Supreme  Court  of  India  thus  allowing  media  and  other  interested persons to join the proceedings.
- viii. 22 Virtual Courts in 18 States/UTs have been operationalized to handle traffic challan  cases.  More  than  3.26  crore  cases  have  been  handled  by  22  virtual courts and in more than 39 lakhs (39,16,405) cases online fine of more than Rs. 419.89 crore has been realized till 30.06.2023.
- ix. New e-filing system (version 3.0) has been rolled out for the electronic filing of legal papers with upgraded features. Draft eFiling rules have been formulated and circulated to the High Courts for adoption. A total of 21 High Courts have adopted the model rules of e-Filing as on 30.06.2023.
- x. e-Filing  of  cases  requires  the  option  for  electronic  payment  of  fees  which includes  court  fees,  fines  and  penalties  which  are  directly  payable  to  the Consolidated Fund. A total of 20 High Courts have implemented e-payments in their respective jurisdictions. The Court Fees Act has been amended in 23 High Courts till 30.06.2023.
- xi. To bridge the digital divide, 819 eSewa Kendras have been rolled out with the  intention  of  facilitating  the  lawyer  or  litigant  who  needs  any  kind  of assistance ranging from information to facilitation and eFiling. It also assists the  litigants  in  accessing  online  e-Courts  services  and  acts  as  a  saviour  for

those who cannot afford the technology or are located in  far-flung areas. It also  aids  to  addresses  the  challenges  caused  by  illiteracy  among  citizens  at large. It will provide benefits in saving time, avoidance of exertion, travelling long distances, and saving cost by offering facilities of e-filing of cases across the  country,  to  conduct  the  hearing  virtually,  scanning,  accessing  e-Courts services etc.

- xii. In addition to eSewa Kendras, as part of the DISHA (Designing Innovative Solutions for Holistic Access to Justice)  scheme  the Government of India has launched Tele Law program since 2017, which provides an effective and reliable e-interface platform connecting the needy and disadvantaged sections seeking legal advice and consultation with panel lawyers via video conferencing, telephone and chat facilities available at the Common Service Centres  (CSCs)  situated  in  Gram  Panchayat  and  through  Tele-Law  mobile App.
- xiii. National  Service  and  Tracking  of  Electronic  Processes  (NSTEP)  has  been launched for technology enabled process serving and issuing of summons. It has currently been implemented in 28 States/ UTs.
- xiv. A new 'Judgment Search' portal has been started with features such as search by  Bench,  Case  Type,  Case  Number,  Year,  Petitioner/  Respondent  Name, Judge  Name,  Act,  Section,  Decision:  From  Date,  To  Date  and  Full  Text Search. This facility is being provided free of cost to all.

Funds released and utilised during the last three years across the country including Assam for infrastructure development of eCourts are given in Annexure-II.

*****

## Annexure-I

Statement  referred  to  in  reply  of  Lok  Sabha  Unstarred  Question  No.  3748  for  11/08/2023 regarding Functional e-Courts. The details of operational eCourts in the country are as under:

| S.No   | High Court                 | State                                                           |   Court Complexes |   Courts |
|--------|----------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------|----------|
| 1      | Allahabad                  | Uttar Pradesh                                                   |               180 |     2222 |
| 2      | Andhra Pradesh             | Andhra Pradesh                                                  |               218 |      617 |
| 3      | Bombay                     | Dadra and Nagar Haveli                                          |                 1 |        3 |
| 3      | Bombay                     | Daman and Diu                                                   |                 2 |        2 |
| 3      | Bombay                     | Goa                                                             |                17 |       39 |
| 3      | Bombay                     | Maharashtra                                                     |               471 |     2157 |
| 4      | Calcutta                   | Andaman &Nicobar Islands                                        |                 4 |       14 |
| 4      | Calcutta                   | West Bengal                                                     |                89 |      827 |
| 5      | Chhattisgarh               | Chhattisgarh                                                    |                93 |      434 |
| 6      | Delhi                      | Delhi                                                           |                 6 |      681 |
| 7      | Gauhati                    | Arunachal Pradesh                                               |                14 |       28 |
| 7      | Gauhati                    | Assam                                                           |                74 |      408 |
| 7      | Gauhati                    | Mizoram                                                         |                 8 |       69 |
| 7      | Gauhati                    | Nagaland                                                        |                11 |       37 |
| 8      | Gujarat                    | Gujarat                                                         |               376 |     1268 |
| 9      | Himachal Pradesh           | Himachal Pradesh                                                |                50 |      162 |
| 10     | Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh | Union Territory of Jammu &Kashmir and Union Territory of Ladakh |                86 |      218 |
| 11     | Jharkhand                  | Jharkhand                                                       |                28 |      447 |
| 12     | Karnataka                  | Karnataka                                                       |               207 |     1031 |
| 13     | Kerala                     | Kerala                                                          |               158 |      484 |
| 13     | Kerala                     | Lakshadweep                                                     |                 1 |        3 |
| 14     | Madhya Pradesh             | Madhya Pradesh                                                  |               213 |     1363 |
| 15     | Madras                     | Puducherry                                                      |                 4 |       24 |
| 15     | Madras                     | Tamil Nadu                                                      |               263 |     1124 |
| 16     | Manipur                    | Manipur                                                         |                17 |       38 |
| 17     | Meghalaya                  | Meghalaya                                                       |                 7 |       42 |
| 18     | Orissa                     | Odisha                                                          |               185 |      686 |
| 19     | Patna                      | Bihar                                                           |                84 |     1142 |
| 20     | Punjab&                    | Chandigarh                                                      |                 1 |       30 |
| 20     | Haryana                    | Haryana                                                         |                53 |      500 |
| 20     | Punjab&                    | Punjab                                                          |                64 |      541 |
| 21     | Rajasthan                  | Rajasthan                                                       |               247 |     1240 |
| 22     | Sikkim                     | Sikkim                                                          |                 8 |       23 |
| 23     | Telangana                  | Telangana                                                       |               129 |      476 |
| 24     | Tripura                    | Tripura                                                         |                14 |       84 |
| 25     | Uttarakhand                | Uttarakhand                                                     |                69 |      271 |
|        | Total                      |                                                                 |              3452 |    18735 |

## Annexure-II

Statement  referred  to  in  reply  of  Lok  Sabha  Unstarred  Question  No.  3748  for  11/08/2023 regarding the funds released during the last three years for infrastructure development are:

| S.No.   | High Courts                 | 2019-2020      | 2019-2020      | 2020-21        | 2020-21        | 2021-22        | 2021-22        |
|---------|-----------------------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
| S.No.   | High Courts                 | Released (Cr.) | Utilized (Cr.) | Released (Cr.) | Utilized (Cr.) | Released (Cr.) | Utilized (Cr.) |
| 1       | Allahabad                   | 15.04          | 13.63          | 13.79          | 10.22          | 0.00           | 0.00           |
| 2       | Andhra Pradesh              | 0.00           | 0.00           | 1.96           | 0.00           | 0.00           | 0.00           |
| 3       | Bombay                      | 0.00           | 0.00           | 8.86           | 8.86           | 0.00           | 0.00           |
| 4       | Calcutta                    | 0.00           | 0.00           | 4.93           | 0.00           | 0.00           | 0.00           |
| 5       | Chhattisgarh                | 4.44           | 4.44           | 2.34           | 2.34           | 0.00           | 0.00           |
| 6       | Delhi                       | 0.00           | 0.00           | 3.00           | 2.85           | 0.00           | 0.00           |
| 7       | Gauhati (Arunachal Pradesh) | 0.98           | 0.98           | 1.52           | 1.52           | 1.26           | 1.18           |
| 8       | Gauhati (Assam)             | 13.68          | 13.40          | 6.11           | 1.78           | 3.49           | 3.46           |
| 9       | Gauhati (Mizoram)           | 0.51           | 0.43           | 0.72           | 0.69           | 0.30           | 0.25           |
| 10      | Gauhati (Nagaland)          | 0.70           | 0.70           | 0.83           | 0.83           | 0.84           | 0.84           |
| 11      | Gujarat*                    | 0.00           | 0.00           | 3.48           | 0.83           | 0.00           | 0.00           |
| 12      | Himachal Pradesh            | 0.00           | 0.00           | 2.00           | 1.78           | 0.00           | 0.00           |
| 13      | Jammu &Kashmir and Ladakh   | 0.00           | 0.00           | 1.00           | 1.00           | 0.00           | 0.00           |
| 14      | Jharkhand                   | 5.53           | 0.35           | 2.98           | 0.48           | 0.00           | 0.00           |
| 15      | Karnataka                   | 9.15           | 9.15           | 4.29           | 4.29           | 0.00           | 0.00           |
| 16      | Kerala                      | 0.00           | 0.00           | 2.83           | 2.83           | 1.58           | 1.58           |
| 17      | Madhya Pradesh              | 11.21          | 11.06          | 6.28           | 6.21           | 0.00           | 0.00           |
| 18      | Madras                      | 0.00           | 0.00           | 4.73           | 2.46           | 0.00           | 0.00           |
| 19      | Manipur                     | 0.61           | 0.60           | 1.30           | 1.28           | 0.76           | 0.75           |
| 20      | Meghalaya                   | 0.92           | 0.09           | 2.32           | 0.51           | 2.23           | 0.85           |
| 21      | Orissa                      | 13.46          | 13.09          | 3.37           | 3.31           | 0.00           | 0.00           |
| 22      | Patna                       | 7.08           | 6.40           | 5.44           | 5.30           | 0.00           | 0.00           |
| 23      | Punjab &Haryana             | 0.00           | 0.00           | 4.55           | 4.55           | 0.00           | 0.00           |
| 24      | Rajasthan                   | 1.29           | 1.29           | 10.58          | 10.57          | 1.62           | 1.62           |
| 25      | Sikkim                      | 1.61           | 0.68           | 1.01           | 0.92           | 0.77           | 0.00           |
| 26      | Telangana&Andhra Pradesh**  | 0.00           | 0.00           | 0.00           | 0.00           | 0.00           | 0.00           |
| 26      | Telangana                   | 0.00           | 0.00           | 1.79           | 0.00           | 0.00           | 0.00           |
| 27      | Tripura                     | 2.24           | 2.19           | 4.44           | 4.05           | 0.96           | 0.78           |
| 28      | Uttarakhand                 | 0.00           | 0.00           | 1.28           | 0.12           | 0.00           | 0.00           |
|         | Total                       | 88.44          | 78.50          | 107.74         | 80.57          | 13.80          | 11.31          |

NOTE: For year the 2022-2023 no funds were released as the total outlay of Phase II amounting to Rs. 1670 Crore has been exhausted.