E-Courts

The eCourts Mission Mode Project, is a Pan-India Project, monitored and funded by Department of Justice, Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India for the District Courts across the country.

Objectives

Overall objectives

• To provide efficient & time-bound citizen centric services delivery as detailed in eCourt Project Litigant's Charter.
• To develop, install & implement decision support systems in courts.
• To automate the processes to provide transparency in accessibility of information to its stakeholders.
• To enhance judicial productivity, both qualitatively & quantitatively, to make the justice delivery system affordable, accessible, cost effective, predictable, reliable and transparent.

The specific objectives of the Project include

• To make whole judicial system ICT enabled by putting in place adequate and modern hardware and connectivity
• Automation of workflow management in all courts
• Electronic movement of records from taluka/trial to appeal courts
• Installation of video conferencing (VC) facility and recording of witness through Video Conferencing
• Connecting all courts in the country to the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) through WAN and additional redundant connectivity
• Citizen centric facilities such as electronic filing, e-payment and use of mobile applications in all courts
• Touch screen based kiosks in each court complex, full computerisation of State and district level judicial and service academies and centres.

Implementation

The eCourts Mission Mode Project (Phase I 2010-15; Phase II 2015-19, extended from 2015-23;) is a national eGovernance project for ICT enablement of district and subordinate courts of the country. The Phase III of eCourts Phase is recommended with a total outlay of Rs.7210 Crore.

Acheivements so far.

The Government has taken the following e-initiatives to make justice accessible and available for all: -

• 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.
• 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 23.34 crore cases and more than 22.21 crore orders / judgments (as on 03.07.2023).
• 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. 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.
• 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 cr. downloads till 30thJune 2023) and JustIS app for judges (19,164 downloads till 30th June 2023).
• 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 78,69,708 cases (totalling 2.77 cr) 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.
• 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.
• 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 crores has been realized till 30.06.2023.
• 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 19 High Courts have adopted the model rules of e-Filing as on 30.06.2023.
  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 22 High Courts till 30.06.2022.
• 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.
• In addition to eSewaKendras, 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Phase III

Phase III of the eCourts Project in India is rooted in two central facets—access and inclusion. Phase III of the eCourts Project envisions a judicial system that is more easily accessible irrespective of geographical distances, efficient and equitable for every individual who seeks justice, makes more efficient use of human and other resources, and absorbs the latest technology for a positive environmental impact.

This vision for Phase III is sought to be built on the following four building blocks:

• Core Values: Phase III must strive for a modern judicial system, governed by core values of trust, empathy, sustainability and transparency which, while simplifying procedures, will maximise the positives of technology and minimise its risks and challenges.
• Whole-of-system approach: Phase III must aim to make processes more efficient across all three components of dispute management i.e. dispute avoidance, containment and resolution. Each of these components will require technological integration with different institutions.
• Adoption frameworks: Phase III must focus on building strong adoption frameworks. Such frameworks must include behavioural nudges, adequate training and skill set development, feedback loops, along with the requisite mandate of law.
• Governance framework: From a governance perspective, while numerous judicial decisions have validated the use of technology in judicial processes, Phase III must address the accompanying administrative structures. The key goals and strategy of Phase III prioritise the creation of a core digital infrastructure that can enable the development of services for dispute resolution by the judiciary and services of solutions for dispute containment and resolution by the ecosystem.

Draft Vision Document for e-Courts Project Phase III

Citizen Services offered

1. Search the current status and the history of a Case using CNR number of the Case / Case Registration Number / Party Name / Advocate Name etc.
2. Search and View court orders using Party name / case number / Court number / Order date.
3. Search and view Cause list of a court

To access the above services,

1. Visit website.
2. Download mobile app Android OS and iOS.
3. SMS service - - SMS pull service - Case status can be obtained by sending unique CNR number (Case Number Record) to 9766899899 through SMS. SMS format is : Ecourts <space> <CNR number> .

Source : e-Courts website