On Supreme Court's Diamond Jubilee, CJI DY Chandrachud Showcases Milestones Of E-Court Services

The Chief Justice was delivering an address at the inauguration ceremony of the upcoming year-long celebrations marking the diamond jubilee of the Supreme Court. Replacing the Federal Court of India and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, the apex court came into existence on this day, in 1950.

Before beginning a slideshow on the key developments relating to the technological strides by the top court and other courts in the country, Chief Justice Chandrachud said –

“In celebrating this day, we must look back and look forward in equal measure. Mahatma Gandhi said recall the face of the poorest and weakest man and ask yourself if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him. Since the founding of our court, our decisions have been guided by this. Our decisions both in the judicial and the administrative realms have been aimed at enhancing accessibility to Indian judicial system for the common citizen.”

Stressing the role of e-filings in helping the judiciary's transition into a tech-savvy system and the increasing share of e-filings versus physical filings, Chief Justice Chandrachud said:

“E-filings are available in 25 states, 20 lakh cases were e-filed. With the support of the bar and the bench, we were able to swiftly shift to virtual hearing during COVID-19. Even after pandemic, hybrid hearings continue to be a feature of our courts. This has democratised access to the Supreme Court.”

He also spoke about a 'quadrangle of transformation' comprising case record digitisation, e-filing, paperless courts, and e-office. “Within the enabling perimeter of this quadrangle of transformation, the Supreme Court is said to uplift experience of everyone either a part of judicial system, or who comes in contact with it,” the chief justice assured.

Turning next to what lies in the future, Chief Justice Chandrachud revealed, “The Supreme Court is soon going to migrate its digital data to a cloud-based infrastructure…We are also on verge of opening a war room equipped with technology enabling the Supreme Court to monitor real-time judicial data of the entire country.”

Finally, he outlined the itemised progress of various e-courts projects.

During his address, Chief Justice Chandrachud notably underscored the pressing need to have a 'difficult conversation' over long court vacations, proposing the exploration of alternatives such as flexi-time for lawyers and judges. Along with this, difficult conversations must be had within the legal fraternity about transforming the 'adjournment culture' to a 'culture of professionalism', shortening oral arguments to prevent delays in court outcomes, and providing a level playing field for first-generation lawyers, particularly from disadvantaged communities.

Another notable development from the event was the launch of three citizen-centric information and technology initiatives aimed at modernising the judicial system. Flagging of the diamond jubilee celebrations, Prime Minister Modi launched the Digital Supreme Court Reports (Digi SCR), Digital Courts 2.0, and the new bilingual website of the Supreme Court today. During this address, the prime minister reiterated the government's commitment to leveraging technology for the betterment of the judicial infrastructure and ensuring justice for all.

The inauguration ceremony will be followed a ceremonial bench later in the afternoon, to be presided over by Chief Justice Chandrachud and other puisne judges of the Supreme Court. Chief justices of high courts and former judges of the top court will also be present, along with Attorney-General Venkataramani, Supreme Court Bar Association President Adish C Aggarwala and others.

Slides from the slideshow prepared by Justice Dr DY Chandrachud