Webinar | Ease of accessing justice (E-courts) to be held

As part of the post Budget Webinar Sessions coordinated by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) & Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), a webinar with the theme “Unleashing the Potential – Ease of Living using Technology” will be held tomorrow .

The webinar will feature a session on “Ease of accessing justice (E-courts)” by the Department of Justice, Ministry of Law & Justice.

The continuing endeavor of the Indian judiciary in independent India has been to provide expeditious and inexpensive access to justice for citizens. Today, technology is a powerful tool to accelerate this endeavor. It offers the opportunity to make the justice system equitable, facilitating each citizen, especially the marginalized, to approach the courts for redress. Phase III of the e-Courts Project focuses on adopting technology by users, a robust governance framework and a judicial system that is more accessible, efficient, and equitable for every individual who seeks justice or is part of the delivery of justice in India.In the Union Budget 2023-24 Government has announced Rs. 7000 Cr. for eCourts phase III. The Phase-III of the project envisions facilitation of various new features, which will prove to be a game changer for last mile justice delivery.

The proposed timeframe for the eCourts Project Phase-III is four years. Following physical and financial activities are to be taken up in eCourts Phase – III.

1. Digitisation of the entire court records, both legacy records and pending cases; Cost estimate for digitizing 3108 crore documents is Rs. 2038.40 Cr.
2. Migration to cloud technology;Cost estimate for providing 25 Petabytes (as per existing requirement) of cloud storage is Rs.1205.20 Cr.
3. Additional hardware to courts and judicial officers. Cost estimate is Rs. 643.66 Cr.
4. Provision for ICT infrastructure in newly setup courts; Cost estimate for 2500 newly set up Courts and 400 new court complexes is Rs. 426.25 Cr.
5. Establishment and expansion in scope of virtual courts for hearing of court cases by creating a robust digital infrastructure. Cost estimate for establishmentof 1150 Virtual Courts is Rs. 413.08 Cr.
6. Fully functional advanced e-Sewa Kendras in all court complexes with the number of such Kendras in each complex depending on the size of the court complex; Cost Estimate for setting up 4400 fully functional eSewa Kendra is Rs. 394.48 Cr.
7. Setting up the infrastructure for paperless courts, phase-wise, with all commercial courts becoming paperless in the first instance. Cost estimate for setting up the infrastructure for 1000 paperless courts is Rs. 359.2 Cr.
8. Development of software applications;Adoption of open technologies in all e-Governance applications and services. Cost estimate for software development is Rs. 243.52 Cr.
9. Solar power facilities for ensuring seamless availability of ICT infrastructure;Cost estimate for installation of 1530 Solar facilities for ensuring seamless availability of ICT infrastructure is Rs. 229.5 Cr.
10. Provision for enhancing and upgrading the available infrastructure of video conferencing; Cost estimate for 10200 video conferencing installation is Rs. 228.48 Cr.
11. E-filing of cases;Cost Estimate for implementing e-Filing in 18000 courts is Rs. 215.97 Cr.
12. Connectivity: Cost estimate for providing Connectivity to 409 sites is Rs. 208.72 Cr.
13. Training all stakeholders in ICT awareness / change management;Cost estimate for requirements of conducting training programmes for all stakeholders and creating awareness through publicity campaigns is Rs.208.52 Cr
14. Live streaming of court proceedings; Cost estimate for Live Streaming of Court proceedings in 300 Court Complexes is Rs. 112.26 Cr
15. PMU in committee and DoJ; Cost estimate for Project Monitoring Unit (PMU) in e-Committee and DOJ is Rs.56.87 Cr.
16. Future technological advancements (Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, etc.);Cost estimate for Future Technological Advancements is Rs. 53.57 Cr.
17. Judicial Process Re-engineering: Cost estimate for Judicial process re-engineering is Rs. 33 Cr.
18. Providing accessible ICT enabled facilities to persons with disabilities;Cost estimate Providing disabled friendly ICT enabled facilities is Rs. 27.54 Cr
19. Providing adequate NSTEP (National Service and Tracking of Electronic Processes)facilities; Cost estimate for providing 8000 NSTEP facilities is Rs. 25.75 Cr.
20. Online Dispute Resolution (ODR);Cost Estimate for developing digital platform for Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) is Rs. 23.72 Cr.
21. Knowledge management: Cost estimate for developing an online e-Learning platform is Rs. 23.3 Cr.
22. e-Office for High Courts and District Courts; Cost estimate for e-Office to be implemented in 700 Courts including High Courts is Rs. 21.1 Cr
23. Integration of duty holders (like court, jails, police stations and forensic laboratories) with Inter Operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS);Costestimate for expenditure envisaged for successful implementation of ICJS is Rs. 11.78 Cr
24. Migration of all District Court websites to the S3WAAS platform;Cost estimate for migration of 752 Courts including High Courts websites to S3WAAS platform is Rs.6.35 Cr.

The Project Monitoring Unit (PMU) of eCourts Project Phase-III will comprise of e-Committee of Supreme Court of India and Department of Justice. The e-Committee of Supreme Court of India will be responsible for overall planning, policy, and implementation in close coordination with the Department of Justice. NIC will be the technical partner and main software development agency. The implementation, procurement of hardware, its maintenance and upkeep will be done by respective High Courts. The tri partite agreement will be signed between Department of Justice, State Governments, and respective High Courts for taking up the operational and management cost after two years of setting up the digital infrastructure.