Budget 2023 | Outlay Of ₹7,000 Crores For Phase-III Of E-Courts Project

“For efficient administration of justice, Phase-3 of the E-Courts project will be launched with an outlay of 7,000 crore,” the Finance Minister said in her speech.

The eCourts Project was conceptualized on the basis of the “National Policy and Action Plan for Implementation of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the Indian Judiciary – 2005”, submitted by the eCommittee, Supreme Court of India, with a vision to transform the Indian Judiciary by ICT enablement of Courts.

The Phase-I of the e-Courts project began in 2007 and was concluded in 2015, in which 14,249 Court sites were computerized, with video conferencing being enabled in Jails and Courts. Under Phase II of the eCourts Project, which was sanctioned in 2015, 18,735 District and Subordinate courts were computerised.

The phase III of the e-Courts project envisions a judicial system that is more accessible, efficient and equitable for every individual who seeks justice or is a part of the delivery of justice in India, as per the ‘Draft Vision Document for Phase III’, submitted by the Expert Sub-Committee, eCommittee, Supreme Court of India.

“It envisions an infrastructure for the judicial system that is natively digital. It does not merely digitise paper-based processes, it transforms processes for a digital environment. Phase III will enable any litigant or lawyer to file a case from anywhere, at any time, without having to go to multiple windows in the premises of any specific court. It seeks to create a reality in which lawyers and litigants can effectively plead their cases with certainty of hearings, and judges are able to adjudicate fairly, through optimal hearings: video or audio, in-person or in writing; synchronous or asynchronous. It intends to create a system in which administrative processes such as collection of different kinds of fees and rote applications are simplified because technology enables it,” the Executive Summary of the Draft provides.