DIGITAL JUSTICE

Need for measures

● Pending cases:
 3.27 crore cases pending before Indian courts.
 85,000 cases – pending for over 30 years.

• Delays in Justice delivery –
accumulation of cases burden on the court system.

• Pandemic and lockdown – restriction in mobility and closure of physical courts – need for ICT enabled court
systems .

E-Court Project

• Conceptualized by ‘National Policy and Action Plan for
Implementation of ICT’.

• Phases I and II – digitisation of the judiciary.
 e-filing
 Tracking cases online
 Uploading judgments online etc.

• Phase III – ecosystem approach – commitments are:
 Digitisation of court processes.
 Plans to upgrade the electronic infrastructure of the judiciary.
 Enable access to lawyers and litigants. Etc.

• Governed by E-Committee of the Supreme Court.
 Transform the judicial
system of the country by
ICT enablement of courts .

• Monitored and funded by the Department of Justice.

Inter-operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS)

• Initiative of the e-Committee.

• Seamless transfer of data and information among different pillars of the criminal justice system.

Hybrid Hearing

• News – E-Committee Chairperson Justice D.Y. Chandrachud – hybrid
hearings to continue considering the pandemic situation.

• Integration of Physical hearing of cases along with video conferences.

Negative Aspects of Phase-III e-courts projects

• Seamless exchange of information between various branches of the State – judiciary, police and prison system.
 Data creation happens at local police stations – increase existing class and caste inequalities.

• 360-degree profile – integrating interactions with
government agencies.
 Leads to profiling and surveillance.

• Data collected, shared and collated – housed within the Home Ministry under the ICJS – no clear explanation.

• Large-scale gathering and storage of data.
 Privacy of Individuals – a concern – SC must care not to
violate the privacy standards – Puttaswamy case 2017.