UPSC Express

In Focus: E-Courts in India

• The Indian judiciary comprises of nearly 15,000 courts situated in approximately 2,500 court complexes throughout the country.
  
• The e-Courts project was conceptualized on the basis of the “National Policy and Action Plan for Implementation of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the Indian Judiciary – 2005”submitted by e-Committee, Supreme Court of India with a vision to transform the Indian Judiciary by ICT enablement of Courts.
  

Features of the E-Courts Project:

• The e-courts project is about creating an ICT enabled ecosystem, to enable courts to make justice delivery system affordable and cost-effective.
  
• In an e-court, the entire work is executed digitally, wherein, the information that is shared and generated is stored as a database and synched to a particular software.
  
• This software can be accessed by litigants, judges and advocates.
  

Advantages of the Project:

• The primary intention of e-courts is to make the justice delivery system affordable, transparent, speedy and accountable by limiting the paper filings.
  
• This would be beneficial for both improving the court processes and rendering citizen-centric services.
  
• E-courts are aimed to make legal processes easier and more user friendly.
  

E-Courts Mission Mode Project (MMP):

• The e-Courts 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 (and also subordinate courts eventually) across the country.
  
• The MMP aims to develop, deliver, install, and implement automated decision-making and decision-support systems in 700 courts across Delhi, Bombay, Kolkata and Chennai; 900 courts across 29 State/ Union Territory capitals; and 13,000 district and subordinate courts across the Nation.
  
• Objectives of the Project:
  
• To develop, install & implement decision support systems in courts.
  
• To assist judicial administration in reducing the pendency of cases.
  
• To help judicial administration in streamlining their day-to-day activities.
  
• To provide judges with easy access to legal and judicial databases.
  
• Advantages of the Project:
  
• Citizen-centric services- E-courts are a step to provide efficient & time-bound citizen centric services delivery as detailed in e-Court Project Litigant’s Charter.
  
• Increased transparency- Automation of the processes can ensure transparency in accessibility of information to its stakeholders.
  
• Enhanced judicial productivity- The project will increase judicial productivity both qualitatively & quantitatively, to make the justice delivery system affordable, accessible, cost effective, predictable, reliable and transparent.