The Hindu News Update Service
News Update Service Sunday, October 28, 2007 : 1045 Hrs National 700 courts to be computerised with web-connectivity New Delhi (PTI): In a significant step to dispose the backlog of 2.75 crore cases in country's district and subordinate courts, 700 new courts are set to be computerised with web-connectivity by next month as part of a Union Law and Justice ministry-supported project. "The allocation of laptops to 700 new judicial officers for digital connectivity will be completed within a month," said Justice Gopi Chand Bharuka, chairman of the e-committee overseeing the five-year plan to computerise all courts for speedy disposal of cases. He said the provision for e-connectivity in 700 courts would be in addition to the facility in 12,155 courts which have already started working on-line. "One of our objective is to enable judicial officers access judgements of the Supreme Court, high courts and even international courts at a click of a button and speed up their research work for a judgement, thus, improving the rate of case disposal," he said. For the common litigant, the e-courts project is likely to lend greater transparency to judiciary, along with speedy disposal of cases. "With web-connectivity, the moment a judicial officer passes a judgement it will automatically get uploaded on the national judicial website `www.indianjudiciary.in.' A litigant need not wait outside courts for their copy of a judgement," said Bharuka. The e-committee chairman said the decision to distribute 12,855 laptops, instead of installing conventional desktop computers, as part of the e-courts project was also linked to enhancing the judiciary's efficiency. "The laptops would help a judicial officer write judgements and access research material or other government records in his court room, in his chamber office and at his residence. His dependence on the stenos and other support staff should not come in the way of writing judgements," said Justice Bharuka. Besides being the latest in technology, the laptops also have other advantages. Since the laptops have a four-hour battery back-up, judges can continue work in courts even during power cuts, thus, reducing hurdles in the process of case disposal, the e-committee chairman said. For smooth introduction of computerisation in courts, special training camps are being conducted to familiarise judicial officers with the new technology. "A group of 2,800 trainers is on the job of imparting one-hour training to judicial officers (as part of a three-month course) in 498 districts. That covers almost 85 per cent of the districts in the country." The plan to computerise all the courts in the country is based on "Report on Strategic Plan for Implementation of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Indian Judiciary" submitted by Justice Bharuka to former Chief Justice of India R C Lahoti in May 2005. The e-courts project, a pet project of law minister H R Bhardwaj, will not only speed up disposal of cases in courts but will also bring about greater transparency in their functioning. The five-year computerisation plan on its maturity would help track each development in a court case right from the stage of inception to the last possible stage of a verdict in the apex court. Earlier, it was Bhardwaj's personal initiative for reducing case backlog that saw the project getting the Union cabinet's nod in February this year. "We have been sanctioned Rs 441.8 crore for the project's implementation in the first phase spread over two years," said Justice Bharuka. Bharadwaj had earlier announced that all the 15,547 district and subordinate courts in the country would be computerised on the basis of 100 per cent central funding without any matching share by the state governments. Justice Bharuka said the cabinet secretary has also acknowledged e-courts as the fastest moving mission mode To unsubscribe send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
