ABSTRACT
Since the COVID-19 pandemic has hit India, it has greatly impacted the Indian judicial system and it has gone under significant changes in the way it functions, such as the digitization of courts which had a major impact at the record keeping of the courts. This research paper aims to examine the impact of digitization and the adoption of digital means used in the proceedings in the post-pandemic era. This study will be exploring the various means used by the courts like virtual hearings, online submission of documents and e-filing of suits. This paper will also assess the problems faced by the judiciary in the application of this plan and also how the judiciary is keeping up with the problems and trying to provide its solution, this paper will also examine the benefits of digitization, such as the better accessibility , increased efficiency, and the cost efficiency which it provides. This research contains secondary sources of data, including observations of supreme courts judges, surveys etc.
The findings in this study will give legal and non-legal scholars to get to know more about the digitization of courts and the benefits which it provides, with the various problems which are faced by its implementation and the solution for the same.
KEYWORDS
Judiciary, digitization, digitalization, pandemic, courts[1] .
INTRODUCTION
The government to tackle the problem of prevention of loss and damage of the records, to safe keep all the records presented before the courts, and the problem of physical storing of all the records, launched the eCourts Integrated Mission Mode Project, the project is under implementation since the year 2007.
The eCourts project is currently being implemented in association with the e-Committee of the Supreme Court of India and Department of justice.
The e-committee of the Supreme Court of India presented before us the solution that is the digitization of all the records, by this process the record documents can be protected from being damaged and also be protected from possible misplacement and mishandling, these hardcopies can be protected and stored in form of softcopies and can be further used in hearings of paperless courts and to access these documents easily.
The catalyst effect played by the COVID 19 pandemic gave a new push to this plan.
Currently if you search e-Courts you will be redirected to a website that shows major information about the current state of the judiciary like the number of cases which are pending, case status, the number of cases which are disposed and cause lists of district and high courts, this website might look like just another website but it actually represents the judicial system and acts a mirror.
To get a better understanding of the entirety of the e-Courts project we have to look at it in its phases, it is divided into three phases.
The first phase of the project has paved way for advocates to check their case status and details regarding it, e-Filing of suits and paying the fees prescribed through electronic means.
From the year 2015 the websites for the trial courts were computerised and finally we entered into the third phase which aimed to make the judicial system easily accessible for the masses, the government also announced an allocation of Rs 7,000 crore for the launch of the third phase of the e-Courts project in the union budget 2023-34, union law minister Kiren Rijiju describe the move as “unprecedented”, saying it will improve the justice delivery system and pave the way for a “paperless” digital environment.[1]
The project is believed to enhance judicial productivity in every aspect and make the delivery system more seamless, affordable, accessible, reliable and most importantly transparent. The project is aimed to be applied all over the nation funded by the ministry of law and justice, government of India.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This paper gives a holistic view and is of the descriptive nature, the research is based on secondary sources of information like journals, articles and websites which are used in the research.
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Previously a research conducted by the national judicial academy (NJA) in the year 2018 found that the digitization of courts in India has led to major reduction in the time which was taken in disposal of cases. The study also concluded that the use of digital means and system of digitization has made the functioning of judiciary more efficient and the quality of judgements has also increased with the increase in transparency in the system.
In another study conducted by the centre for civil society (CCS)in the year 2019 found that the digitization of courts has made the system more accessible to the masses and also made it easier for advocates to file suits and also track its process.
A study conducted by Indian council for research on international economic relations (ICRIER) in the year 2020 found that the digitization of courts has led to decrease in corruption in the existing judicial system, and that the digitization has made it tougher for corrupt official to manipulate the records.
WHY IS DIGITIZATION OF COURTS NECESSARY?
- MAINTAINANCE[2] OF RECORDS
It is evident that large[3] amount of space is required to store these many files plus the maintenance and preservation of these records which are often times decades old, it creates a gap for corrupt official to manipulate the records or make them cease to exist making it difficult for the judicial proceedings.
It has also been observed that cases are adjourned simply because affidavits which were filed several years ago were not restored or were not even traceable.
The Apex court also asked high courts to ensure the digitization of all the district court records, the bench also highlighted that the e-committee of the supreme court on September 24, 2021, has already given a 18 step procedure to digitize the lower courts for digital preservation, which is a must and should be complied with.
In a judgement passed on April 24 in the Jitendra Kumar rode vs union of India case, a bench comprising of justice Murari and Sanjay Karol stressed on the use of technology and how it has become so deep rooted in the current system and why it is important, that is to preserve the documents and the court records it was stated that “technology has, in the present time become increasingly enmeshed with the systems of dispute resolution and adjudication with the trend pointing leading to all the more interplay, both supplementary and complimentary between technology and law”[2].
And also issuing the directions to the registrar generals of the high courts in this regard, the apex courts emphasized that digitization of the records is necessary for better functioning of judicial process.
Justice Krishna Murari and justice Sanjay Karol observed “the job of the court of appeal is not to depend on the lower courts judgement to uphold the conviction but, based on the record available before it duly called from the trial court and thee arguments advanced before it, to come to a conclusion Theron… had there been properly preserved records of the trial court”.[3]
The bench further asked the concerned district judges to ensure that the records so digitized are further verified as fast as possible, once the system of digitization along with the system of authentication of the digitized records is in place in their judgeship.[4]
One of the major reasons to digitize the records is not to result in failure of producing the documents, when necessary, which may lead to acquittal of criminals, the documents must be preserved and made traceable for a faster and effective proceeding, the consequences of missing records can be grave.
In many cases it has been observed that the records are missing which ultimately results in thee acquittal of an accused solely on that basis, digitization will ensure that the records are well preserved and produced when needed and such accused of crimes could not escape thee hands of law solely on the basis of missing of records.
In state of Uttar Pradesh vs Abhay raj Singh, it was held by the supreme court of India that if the court records go missing and reconstruction is not possible, the courts are bound to set aside the conviction.
The time taken in producing the records from the lower courts to the appellate courts is one of the major reasons why digitization of records is necessary the records in this process has to be verified, certified, and then transferred, it also depends on the complexity of the cases and the volume of records produced in the lower court, it could take some time to compile the records for transmission to the appellate court, the lower court may also have a serries of backlog which needs to be cleared before the lower court verifies the record so that it can transmit it to the appellate court, transportation of these records is also a big issue as the hardcopy needs to be transported sometimes through means of transport like vehicles etc.
The already prevalent backlogs were increasing because of this delay in producing of documents to the higher courts, which leads to elongated time in the proceedings. Hence, it is essential to get a solution for this and the digitization of records is the need of the time.
HOW THE PANDEMIC PLAYED AN IMPORTANT ROLE?
The covid pandemic forced many courts not just in India but around the world to switch to a more remote way through digital means majorly to protect the lives of people and ultimately resulted in modernization of the courts by forcing them to embrace digital solutions to keep the wheels of justice rolling.
The lockdowns forced the courts to proceed with remote hearings, which is a significant push in the digitalization of the courts all the lawyers, judges, clerks to appear in remote means of communication through applications like zoom and skype from their homes.
E-filing of suits, recently the supreme court registry began training of lawyers for e-filing of cases[5].
This system allows lawyers and litigants to submit court documents, pay fees and fines online, and also track the progress of their cases through the web portals.
Paper based filing and recording has been greatly reduced after the pandemic although plans for this was in action even before it, the pandemic gave it a major push, recently at the inauguration of the “paperless district courts in Odisha” project, Justice D Y Chandrachud said “familiarising oneself with technology is not as difficult as it may initially seem” and also pointed out that after the covid 19 pandemic, his chamber “functions almost entirely without paper and I am now a self-confessed technology geek”[6].
He added that “today, a ‘green bench’ does not mean a bench hearing environmental cases but a bench which aims to conduct proceedings with zero physical filings, as will hopefully be the case in paperless courts”.
Recently, Justice Chandrachud while heading a five-judge constitution bench, which took up the dispute between the Delhi and state government over control of administration services in the national capital, had said that it has decided to do away with physical documents.
There are plenty of advantages for a paperless court, they are cost effective for the litigants and the advocates, litigants no longer have to pay the cost of printing case files. Technology in todays time is easily accessible and affordable and the justice system should adopt it, with the application of this system the problem of storage of these records and also its maintenance is now easier than ever, all thee information regarding cases is now at the fingertips of the advocated and judges, who can access any part of a case file with a mere click of the mouse button, Justice D Y Chandrachud also said that the paperless system will be a great help to the people with disabilities as it will reduce the burden on them greatly.
He added that “today, a ‘green bench’ does not mean a bench hearing environmental cases but a bench which aims to conduct proceedings with zero physical filings, as will hopefully be the case in paperless courts”[7].
Even after the end of the pandemic the courts have not lost its freedom to function in hybrid mode and are still using it as many litigants and advocates are from distant places and it becomes easier to appear through remote means, the litigants and advocates are free from the charges of transportation, paying of accommodations in different cities and can ultimately save a lot of time and use the saved time to invest it into the preparation of the cases itself or other productive works.
WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES FACED IN THE DIGITIZATION OF JUDICIARY?
Also, before covid clients used to come to the courts to get an advocate to appear for them but as the online means have taken over, clients do not have to go to the courts making it harder for advocates to find more clients, as in India legal practitioners cannot advertise their work.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the digitization of the records in the Indian courts and the digital use of means used in remote hearing and e-filing of cases, online submission of documents etc, has already displayed that it is a revolutionizing plan which is already accepted as being a boon to the judicial fraternity, the COVID 19 pandemic has acted as a great catalyst as it forced the Indian courts to proceed the judicial hearings in online means, to safeguard the precious lives of the litigants, advocates and judges , the COVID 19 pandemic expedited the process of digitization which was already in force even before the pandemic. The implementation of digital technology has in many ways facilitated remote hearings in court and also the new means of uploading the documents online, this has made the judicial system more efficient both economically and socially and has become more accessible for the masses, this has also given the judiciary a lot of transparency which is a green flag for democracy, this new step has also saved a lot of labour work and waste of time of the litigants and advocates, this step has also helped in clearing the already big pile of backlogs.[4] Nonetheless, digitalization still faces a lot of problems such as the litigants and lawyers are not well versed with the online means and are having a hard time coping up with the change in the system. Therefore, the judiciary and the government should try to resolve all the problems in this change to make the best out of this situation the government should continue to invest in the digitization and digitalization of courts and the judiciary should also adopt measures that enhance the efficiency, accessibility and security of the judiciary to ensure that it provides a just and timely resolution to all the disputes[5] .[6]
MOHAMMED HARIS
ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY
1ST YEAR (2ND SEMESTER)
[1] (2023). Union Budget: Allocation of Rs 7000 cr for eCourts project will improve justice delivery, facilitate digital environment, says Rijiju Read more At: https://www.aninews.in/news/national/general-news/union-budget allocation of rs 7000 cr for ecourts project will improve justice delivery facilitate digital environment says rijiju [online]. Aninews.in. [Viewed 11 May 2023]. Available from: https://www.aninews.in/news/national/general-news/union-budget-allocation-of-rs-7000-cr-for-ecourts-project-will-improve-justice-delivery-facilitate-digital-environment-says-rijiju20230201172325/
[2] (2023). SC Asks High Courts to Ensure Digitisation Of All District Court Records [online]. news18.com. [Viewed 11 May 2023]. Available from: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.news18.com/amp/india/sc-asks-high-courts-to-ensure-digitisation-of-all-district-court-records-7651045.html?bshm=bshwcqp/2
[3] (2023). Supreme Court Orders High Courts To Ensure Digitization Of District Court Records To Facilitate Smooth Functioning Of Judicial Process [online]. Livelaw.in. [Viewed 11 May 2023]. Available from: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.livelaw.in/amp/supreme-court/supreme-court-directions-high-courts-digitization-lower-court-records-criminal-appeal-technology-law-227231
[4] (2023). SC Asks High Courts to Ensure Digitisation Of All District Court Records [online]. news18.com. [Viewed 11 May 2023]. Available from: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.news18.com/amp/india/sc-asks-high-courts-to-ensure-digitisation-of-all-district-court-records-7651045.html?bshm=bshwcqp
[5] (2023). Supreme Court registry begins lawyers’ training for e-filing as CJI flags importance of electronic systems [online]. Indiatoday.in. [Viewed 12 May 2023]. Available from: https://www.indiatoday.in/law/story/supreme-court-registry-begins-lawyers-training-for-efiling-cji-flags-importance-of-electronic-systems-2342594-2023-03-04
[6] (2023). Digitisation to crisis-proof justice delivery: Justice Chandrachud [online]. indianexpress.com. [Viewed 12 May 2023]. Available from: https://indianexpress.com/article/india/digitisation-to-crisis-proof-justice-delivery-justice-chandrachud-8157445/ Shared by Indian Express android app Click here to download https://indexpress.page.link/shareDL
[7] (2023). Digitisation to crisis-proof justice delivery: Justice Chandrachud [online]. indianexpress.com. [Viewed 12 May 2023]. Available from: https://indianexpress.com/article/india/digitisation-to-crisis-proof-justice-delivery-justice-chandrachud-8157445/ Shared by Indian Express android app Click here to download https://indexpress.page.link/shareDL
[8] (2023). Digitisation to crisis-proof justice delivery: Justice Chandrachud [online]. indianexpress.com. [Viewed 12 May 2023]. Available from: https://indianexpress.com/article/india/digitisation-to-crisis-proof-justice-delivery-justice-chandrachud-8157445/ Shared by Indian Express android app Click here to download https://indexpress.page.link/shareDL
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