At the launch of e-inspection software of the Delhi High Court, the Chief Justice of India, DY Chandrachud hailed Delhi High Court for being at the forefront of developments in digitalization of courts in the country.
Remarking that all courts of the High Court can now function as e-courts, in addition to physical hearings from time to time, the CJI praised the e-inspection software as a “step in the right direction” of a sustainable transformation of justice delivery system.
“Initiatives such as online e-filing system, web links dedicated to mentioning of urgent matters, digitised case records, video conferencing system —have enhanced the robustness of a sustainable future court system prevailing in the Delhi High Court,” he said.
The CJI added that the software at District Court level will bring about real changes.
“The district judiciary plays a crucial role in ensuring access to justice for citizens at the grassroots level. E- inspection of judicial records at the district level would reduce our dependence on physical document handling and would allow us to move beyond the constraints of space. It is essential to ensure that such online services are compatible with most used browsers, screen-reading softwares, can be operated with ease on mobiles or devices with a low bandwidth, and most importantly they do not contribute in the digital divide,” he said.
He emphasised that even though Supreme Court lays down the law for the whole country, Delhi High Court stays ahead in terms of facilitations and innovations and makes the Apex Court follow.
"In many ways I believe the way we lay down the law for the whole country, the Delhi High Court is way ahead of the Supreme Court in the facilities which are provided, not just to the judges but to the lawyers and to the litigants as well. So we generally tend to follow the Delhi High Court"
In lighter vein, the CJI said that the greater danger of following the Delhi High Court is to be getting accused of 'intellectual piracy'.
He added that it is to avoid the same, he is working in cooperation and borrowing the intellectual capital of the Delhi High Court into the Supreme Court.
"So I thought to obviate this criticism that, you know, 'we are pirating on what has been done by dynamic judges of the Delhi High Court', I can borrow the intellectual capital of the Delhi High Court into the Supreme Court. So then I've constituted this committee called the Monitoring and Implementation Committee, as part of the e-Committee of the Supreme Court to shoulder part of my burden in the e-committee, consisting of Justice Rajiv Shakhder, we have Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan from the Kerala High Court, Justice Suraj Govindaraj from the Karanataka High Court and Justice Anoop Chitkara from the Punjab and Haryana High Court because I thought that you know, we must pass on the baton to the younger generation and create administrative skills, the capacity for learning the capacity for understanding India beyond the confines of our own high courts." the CJI said.
CJI Chandrachud said the success of any initiative lies in the critical feedback mechanism.
“Technology has become a powerful tool in the legal system, improving efficiency, accessibility, and accuracy in the administration of justice. However, the success of any initiative and innovation, whether in law or technology, depends on the ability to collaborate with stakeholders and incoTrporate critical feedback of those who will be using it,” he said.
To this, he mentioned the 'pilot hackathon' the Supreme Court organised to explore practical propositions for bringing efficiency in the existing process from filing to listing of judicial matters.
“The next step is for the Supreme Court to organise Hackathon 2.0, which would be open for everyone to participate,” the CJI added.
Emphasising on the need to have feedback loop as it leads to improvement in the technology, CJI Chandrachud said that the willingness to test, take feedback, adapt and change would go a long way.
“Helpful feedback from the community allowed the IT Committee of the Delhi High Court to address specific needs of judicial officials, court staff, and legal professionals and issues that arose during implementation of the former e-inspection software,” he said.
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(With input from news agency language)
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