Lok Sabha Question No. 1954 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-12-06
Subject: e-Sewa Kendras  in Courts
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: Shri Mani A

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 1954 TO BE ANSWERED ON FRIDAY, THE 06 th DECEMBER, 2024

## e-Sewa Kendras in Courts

## 1954. SHRI MANI A:

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

- (a) whether the Government has established e-Sewa Kendras in courts across the country;
- (b)if so, the details of their implementation including the number of such operational e-sewa Kendras;
- (c) the primary service offered by these Kendras to litigants and advocates;
- (d)the number of litigants who have availed services through e-Sewa Kendras in the last one year, State-wise including Tamil Nadu;
- (e) the impact of e-Sewa Kendras on reducing delays and simplifying processes for litigants; and
- (f) whether training programmes are being conducted for stakeholders such as advocates and litigants to make effective use of e-Sewa Kendras and if so, the details thereof?

## 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) to (c): Yes Sir. Under eCourts Mission Mode Project, eSewa Kendras have been established in High Courts and District Courts across the country. These centers, located in the court complexes have been established to bridge the digital divide and extend assistance to lawyers and litigants. These Kendras aim to serve as a one-stop centre offering free of cost information on court cases/orders/judgments, facilitation of court related matters, and e-filing services,

particularly benefiting those who may lack access to technology or reside in remote areas.

A total of 1394 eSewa Kendras (Facilitation Centres) in District Courts and 36 eSewa Kendras (Facilitation Centres) in High Courts have been established nationwide as on 31.10.2024, underscoring the positive impact of this initiative in providing valuable services to legal practitioners and litigants. High Court wise details of eSewa Kendras set up in High Courts as well as District Courts across the country under the project is placed at Annexure-I.

The following services are provided at eSewa Kendras for the litigants and lawyers:

-  Handling of inquiries about case status, next date of hearing and other details.
-  Facilitation of online Applications for certificate copies and other such filing.
-  Facilitation of eFiling of petitions right from scanning of hardcopy petitions, appending eSignatures, uploading them into CIS (Case Information System) and generation of filing number.
-  Assistance in online purchase of eStamp papers/ePayments.
-  Publicising of and assistance in downloading the Mobile App of eCourts for Android and IOS.
-  Helping in applying for obtaining Aadhaar based digital signature.
-  Facilitation in booking of eMulakat appointment for meeting relatives locked in jail.
-  Handling queries about Judges on leave.
-  Handling queries about location of the particular Court, its cause-list and whether the case has been taken up for hearing or not.
-  Guidance on how to avail free legal services from District Legal Service Authority, High Court Legal Service Committee and Supreme Court Legal Service Committee.

-  Facilitation of disposal of traffic challan in virtual Courts as also online compounding of traffic challans and other petty offences.
-  Assistance with respect to all other queries and assistance in respect of facilities which are digitally available under the eCourts Project.

(d): The data with respect to the functioning of eSewa Kendras is maintained by the respective High Court. Accordingly, as per the information provided by the High Court of Madras, under Phase II of eCourts Project, the Madras High Court established 4 eSewa Kendras i.e. one at the Principal Seat of Madras High Court, one at Madurai Bench, one at Yercaud Taluk in Salem District and another in Krishnagiri District, in the state of Tamil Nadu using the existing infrastructure.

Under Phase-III of eCourts Project, the Madras High Court has established 298 eSewa Kendra in 250 Court Complexes in the State of Tamil Nadu and U.T. of Puducherry. These new eSewa Kendras have been made operational from 05.08.2024.Top of Form

Depending upon the number of courts functioning in the Court Complex, approximately 20 to 30 Queries per day are being handled in the eSewa Kendras of Tamil Nadu.

(e): eSewa Kendras promote paperless processes by reducing the time and effort required for filing and retrieving documents and enable litigants to easily monitor the progress of their cases through the online portal. Guidance and assistance provided at these centres enables simplification of complex legal procedures for those who are unfamiliar with the legal system.

(f): Yes Sir. A total of 112 training programmes for the advocates/ advocate clerks have been conducted by eCommittee, Supreme Court of India in every state in coordination with the State Judicial Academies of the respective High Courts.These training programmes have interalia covered the topic of eSewa Kendras.

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## Annexure I

Statement referred to in reply of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1954 for 06/12/2024 regarding e-Sewa Kendras in Courts. The High Court wise details of eSewa Kendras set up in High Courts as well as District Courts across the country under the project are as below:

| Sr.N o.   | High Court                | Whether the e- Sewa Kendra is implemented in High Court   | Functioning e- Sewa Kendras in HighCourts (A)   | Whether the e- Kendra implemented District Courts   | Sewa is in   | Functioning e- Sewa Kendras in District Courts (B)   | Total (A+B)   |
|-----------|---------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------|--------------|------------------------------------------------------|---------------|
| 1         | Allahabad                 | Yes                                                       | 2                                               | Yes                                                 |              | 74                                                   | 76            |
| 2         | AndhraPradesh             | Yes                                                       | 0                                               | No                                                  |              | 0                                                    | 0             |
| 3         | Bombay                    | Yes                                                       | 3                                               | Yes                                                 |              | 43                                                   | 46            |
| 4         | Calcutta                  | Yes                                                       | 1                                               | Yes                                                 |              | 8                                                    | 9             |
| 5         | Chhattisgarh              | Yes                                                       | 1                                               | Yes                                                 |              | 23                                                   | 24            |
| 6         | Delhi                     | Yes                                                       | 1                                               | Yes                                                 |              | 13                                                   | 14            |
| 7         | Gauhati- ArunachalPradesh | Yes                                                       | 0                                               | Yes                                                 |              | 24                                                   | 24            |
| 8         | Gauhati-Assam             | Yes                                                       | 2                                               | Yes                                                 |              | 78                                                   | 80            |
| 9         | Gauhati-Mizoram           | Yes                                                       | 1                                               | Yes                                                 |              | 8                                                    | 9             |
| 10        | Gauhati-Nagaland          | Yes                                                       | 1                                               | Yes                                                 |              | 11                                                   | 12            |
| 11        | Gujarat                   | Yes                                                       | 1                                               | Yes                                                 |              | 148                                                  | 149           |
| 12        | HimachalPradesh           | Yes                                                       | 1                                               | Yes                                                 |              | 11                                                   | 12            |
| 13        | Jammu and Kashmir         | Yes                                                       | 1                                               | Yes                                                 |              | 9                                                    | 10            |
| 14        | Jharkhand                 | Yes                                                       | 2                                               | Yes                                                 |              | 24                                                   | 26            |
| 15        | Karnataka                 | Yes                                                       | 3                                               | Yes                                                 |              | 26                                                   | 29            |
| 16        | Kerala                    | Yes                                                       | 1                                               | Yes                                                 |              | 161                                                  | 162           |
| 17        | MadhyaPradesh             | Yes                                                       | 3                                               | Yes                                                 |              | 40                                                   | 43            |
| 18        | Madras                    | Yes                                                       | 1                                               | Yes                                                 |              | 300                                                  | 301           |
| 19        | Manipur                   | Yes                                                       | 1                                               | Yes                                                 |              | 15                                                   | 16            |
| 20        | Meghalaya                 | Yes                                                       | 1                                               | Yes                                                 |              | 15                                                   | 16            |
| 21        | Orissa                    | Yes                                                       | 1                                               | Yes                                                 |              | 126                                                  | 127           |
| 22        | Patna                     | Yes                                                       | 1                                               | Yes                                                 |              | 37                                                   | 38            |
| 23        | Punjab and Haryana        | Yes                                                       | 1                                               | Yes                                                 |              | 111                                                  | 112           |
| 24        | Rajasthan                 | Yes                                                       | 2                                               | Yes                                                 |              | 1                                                    | 3             |
| 25        | Sikkim                    | Yes                                                       | 1                                               | Yes                                                 |              | 9                                                    | 10            |
| 26        | Telangana                 | Yes                                                       | 1                                               | Yes                                                 |              | 34                                                   | 35            |
| 27        | Tripura                   | Yes                                                       | 1                                               | Yes                                                 |              | 15                                                   | 16            |
| 28        | Uttarakhand               | Yes                                                       | 1                                               | Yes                                                 |              | 30                                                   | 31            |
|           | Implemented               | 28                                                        | 36                                              | 27                                                  |              | 1394                                                 | 1430          |
|           | Not Implemented           | 0                                                         |                                                 | 1                                                   |              |                                                      |               |