Cabinet approves Phase 3 of e-courts project, allocates Rs 7,210 crore

The scheme is expected to promote ease of justice by making the system more accessible and affordable.

The Union cabinet on September 13 approved the commencement of Phase 3 of e-courts project with a financial allocation of Rs 7,210 crore, Union minister Anurag Thakur announced in a cabinet briefing.

"Cabinet has approved Phase III of eCourts Project, with financial outlay of Rs.7210 crore. eCourts Mission Mode Project is the prime mover for improving access to justice using technology," a government spokesperson  said on X (formerly Twitter)

The Union government allocated Rs 7,000 crore in Union Budget 2023 for the third phase of the e-courts project, which is a four-fold jump from Rs 1,670 crore granted for phase two of the digital upgradation of courts in 2015.

Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud hailed the government's allocation and noted that the allocation will also help improve the efficiency of the justice delivery system in India. “Such endeavours (e-courts) will ensure that the court truly reaches out to every citizen of the country,” he said.

About e-courts:

Launched in 2005, the project was conceptualised to equip the Indian judiciary with information and communication technology by digitising every facet of litigation from initiation to judgement.

The first phase saw the computerisation of district and taluka courts with Case Information Software (CIS) for providing basic case-related services to litigants and lawyers. Phase 2 saw the integration of systems across courts in the country and the introduction of the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG), a near real-time repository of data on the pendency and disposal of cases.

Phase 3 of the project provides various new features such as digital and paperless courts that aim to bring court proceedings under a digital format in a court. An online court is aimed at eliminating the presence of litigants or lawyers in the court through virtual hearings and expansion of the scope of Virtual Courts beyond adjudication of Traffic Violations. Phase 3 also aims to harness Artificial Intelligence and its subsets like Optical Character Recognition (OCR)  for analysis of case pendency, forecasting future litigation among others.

The e-Courts Phase 3 is being implemented under the joint partnership of Department of Justice, Ministry of Law & Justice, and eCommittee, Supreme Court of India. It is to be noted that CJI Chandrachud has been heading the e committee of the Supreme Court for over two years now.

The scheme is also expected to promote ease of justice by making the system more accessible, affordable, reliable, predictable, and transparent for all stakeholders.