Phase II of the e-Courts Mission Mode Project focuses mainly on ICT enablement of District & Subordinate Courts and various citizen centric initiatives

2024-07-25 Information

As part of the National e-Governance Plan, the e-Courts Mission Mode Project is under implementation for Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) development of the Indian Judiciary based on the “National Policy and Action Plan for Implementation of Information and Communication Technology in the Indian Judiciary”. This project is being implemented by the Department of Justice, in close coordination with the e-Committee, Supreme Court of India.

The phase I of the e-Courts Mission Mode Project was implemented during 2011-2015, which focused on the basics of computerisation like setting up computer hardware, ensuring internet connectivity, and operationalizing the e-Courts platform. Against the financial outlay of Rs.935 crore, a total expenditure of Rs.639.41 crore was incurred. The following initiatives were undertaken in this phase:

The phase II of the e-Courts Mission Mode Project was implemented during 2015-2023, which focused mainly on ICT enablement of District & Subordinate Courts and various citizen centric initiatives. Against the financial outlay of Rs.1670 crores, an amount of Rs. 1668.43 crore was spent. Till 2023, 18,735 courts have been computerised. The High Court wise/State-wise details are at Annexure-I. The following initiatives have been undertaken to make justice accessible and available for all stakeholders through digitization of legal procedures, thereby enhancing efficiency and transparency in the legal system: –

As Phase II of e-Courts Mission Mode Project was coming to an end, the Union Cabinet on 13.09.2023 has approved Phase-III of e-Courts Project, with a budgetary outlay of Rs.7,210 crore for a period of 4 years starting from 2023 onwards. Taking the gains of Phase-I and Phase-II to the next level, e-Courts Phase-Ill aims to usher in a regime of maximum ease of justice by moving towards digital, online and paperless courts, through digitization of the entire court records including legacy records and by bringing in universalization of e-Filing/ e-Payments through saturation of all court complexes with e-Sewa Kendras. E-Courts Phase III intends to put in place intelligent smart systems enabling data-based decision making for judges and registries while scheduling or prioritizing cases. The main objective of the Phase-III is to create a unified technology platform for the judiciary, thus providing a seamless and paperless interface between the courts, the litigants and other stakeholders. The project envisages a smoother user experience by building a “smart” ecosystem. The e-Courts Phase-III may thus prove to be a game changer in ensuring ease of justice by making the Court experience convenient, inexpensive and hassle free to all the citizens of the country. The various components of e-Courts Phase III including digitization of 3108 crore pages of legacy records, cloud infrastructure, 4400 fully functional e-Sewa Kendras in all court complexes, and use of emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning, etc along with its financial details are placed at Annexure II. Funds under e-Courts Mission Mode Project are released to various High Courts on the recommendation of e-Committee, Supreme Court of India.

During FY 2024-25, a sum of Rs. 1500 crore has been allocated in BE under e-Courts Project Phase III, of which Rs. 465.74 crore has been released, till July 2024.

Annexure-I

The State-wise details of operational e-Courts in the country is as under:

S.No

High Court

State

Courts

Allahabad

Uttar Pradesh

2222

Andhra Pradesh

617

Bombay

Dadra and Nagar Haveli

Daman and Diu

Goa

Maharashtra

2157

Calcutta

Andaman & Nicobar Islands

West Bengal

827

Chhattisgarh

434

Delhi

681

Gauhati

Arunachal Pradesh

Assam

408

Mizoram

Nagaland

Gujarat

1268

Himachal Pradesh

162

Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh

Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir and Union Territory of Ladakh

218

Jharkhand

447

Karnataka

1031

Kerala

484

Lakshadweep

Madhya Pradesh

1363

Madras

Puducherry

Tamil Nadu

1124

Manipur

Meghalaya

Orissa

Odisha

686

Patna

Bihar

1142

Punjab & Haryana

Chandigarh

Haryana

500

Punjab

541

Rajasthan

1240

Sikkim

Telangana

476

Tripura

Uttarakhand

271

Total

18735

Annexure-II

The components of e-Courts Phase III along with financial details are as under:

S.No.

Scheme Component

Cost Estimate (Total (In Rs. Cr.))

Scanning, Digitization and Digital Preservation of Case Records

2038.40

Cloud Infrastructure

1205.23

Additional hardware to existing courts

643.66

Infrastructure in newly set up courts

426.25

Virtual Courts

413.08

eSewa Kendra

394.48

Paperless Court

359.20

System and Application Software Development

243.52

Solar Power Backup

229.50

Video Conferencing set-up

228.48

e- filing

215.97

Connectivity (Primary + Redundancy)

208.72

Capacity Building

208.52

CLASS (Courtroom Live-Audio Visual Streaming System)

112.26

Project Management Unit

56.67

Future Technological Advancements

53.57

Judicial process re-engineering

33.00

Disabled friendly ICT enabled facilities

27.54

NSTEP

25.75

Online Dispute Resolution (ODR)

23.72

Knowledge Management System

23.30

e-Office for High Courts & District Courts

21.10

Integration with Inter-Operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS)

11.78

S3WAAS platform

6.35

TOTAL

7210

This information was given by the MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE; AND MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS, SHRI ARJUN RAM MEGHWAL in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.

14,249 District and Subordinate courts were computerized.
LAN was installed at 13,683 courts, hardware provided in 13,436 courts and software was installed in 13,672 courts.
Laptops were provided to 14,309 judicial officers and change management exercise completed in all High Courts.
Over 14,000 Judicial Officers were trained in the use of UBUNTU-Linux Operating System.
More than 3900 court staff were trained in Case Information System (CIS) as System Administrators.
Video Conferencing facility was operationalised between 493 court complexes & 347 corresponding jails.

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