Lawyers Should Be Allowed To Work On Phones Or Laptops Inside Courtrooms, Internet Facilities Also Must: CJI DY Chandrachud

Chief Justice Of India, DY Chandrachud on Wednesday evening said that judges should allow lawyers to work on their electronic gadgets inside the courtrooms and must ensure internet facilities with adequate firewalls there so that it is put to genuine and authorised use.

While speaking at a virtual inauguration ceremony of administrative block and various e-initiatives of Calcutta High Court, CJI Chandrachud said mobile phones are now ubiquitous in society and recalled the time when they were banned inside many courtrooms.

"And here we are today releasing a mobile application for the high court but we have to be kind on ourselves as just we have to be kind on the members of the bar and the litigants. Just the other day I heard not a complaint or a grievance but a little bit of a suggestion from a young junior who was working on her iPad in a courtroom in one of our premier High Courts. While working on her IPad, the usher of court came to the young junior and said that 'you have to switch off your iPad because this is not in accordance with the discipline of the court'. And I said that we are carrying our discipline too far," CJI Chandrachud said.

Continuing, the Chief Justice said:  "A young junior or a young lawyer or any lawyer for that matter working on an iPad within the precincts of the courtroom should be allowed to work on it so long as they're not watching watching movies on the iPad or on their laptops. We must trust people. We must set up internet facilities within our courtrooms and of course have adequately maintained firewalls so that the facility is put to genuine and authorised use."

Speaking about the use of technology by the judiciary, Justice Chandrachud said that his personal motto on the adoption of technology is to meet the needs of tomorrow as well.

"Rather than choosing a strategy where we design technology to respond to problems which have already arisen, we must embrace a strategy where we periodically revamp our existing systems by using technology. If we do this, we will be able to meet any challenge head on regardless of whether the challenge is foreseen," said the CJI, adding that Public institutions must not lag behind private entities or individuals when it comes to the adoption of technology. 

On the importance of mobile applications of high courts, CJI Chandrachud said citizens are able to afford mobile phones more equally easily then they can afford desktops or laptops. "If a litigant wants to check the status of their kids, for example, they will find far easier to use the mobile app than the web browser. In these small ways, technology makes the justice system more accessible to all the strata of society," said Justice Chandrachud.

While requesting Calcutta High Court to revamp and modernize its website, CJI Chandrachud said there is an urgent need to do so. "We at the Supreme Court are also in the process of assessing the changes that our website requires. A periodic review and upgradation of the website will ensure that it remains user friendly, including for those who are physically challenged," he said.

CJI Chandrachud also said inspections of district courts can also be made virtual. "Visits of administrative judges to the district for the purpose of inspection, sometimes breed terror in the hearts of our district judiciary. By making the inspection virtual, we will be able to streamline the process make it seamless and make it continuous. Judges at all levels will certainly welcome this move, as it will enable more efficient record keeping and save precious time," he said.

Speaking on the Phase III of the e-Courts project, CJI Chandrachud said that in the recent union budget, over 7000 crores has been allocated and stressed on making plans to utilise the money for good purposes.

"Funds will not be a constraining factor for us anymore. The constraints will be our own ability to design, manage and implement a project of this magnitude as we anticipate the release of the first tranche of the funds for Phase-III. We must begin planning now on how we will utilize the funds which will be allocated to the judiciary in the state of West Bengal and ensure that these funds are put to use immediately and for good purpose. Otherwise, the funds which are made available to the judiciary will simply lapse and there will be nobody else to blame but us if we are not able to utilize the funds which have bee made available to us," he said.

CJI Chandrachud also asked the Calcutta High Court to start translating judgements into local languages. 

Referring to the project launched by the Supreme Court, the CJI said: "I would earnestly appeal to the Calcutta High Court as well to launch upon this initiative which we have adopted by ensuring that your judgments are available in simple language to the people as they understand the language. This will truly ensure that we reach out to our citizens and then our processes become known to us citizens in words in language and in a form which they can truly understand."

Furthermore, CJI Chandrachud also talked about the e-SCR project launched by the Supreme Court which is an initiative to provide digital version of judgments in the manner as they are reported in the official law report - 'Supreme Court Reports'.

CJI said that the e-SCR system will ensure that lawyers across the country do not have to spend “a single rupee” in accessing judgments of the top court.

“This will ensure that lawyers across India do not have to spend a single rupee in accessing judgments of the Supreme Court. I do believe that initiatives such as these will take truly justice to the doorsteps of common citizens and will equip young members of the bar who do not have resources, the base of the pyramid in our legal profession, to access legal services,” he said.

He also said that the Supreme Court has now commenced transcription of oral arguments which are being converted into transcripts and are provided to the lawyers at the end of the day.

“These initiatives will not only truly make us a court of record as I said, but going beyond that they will foster the cause of legal education by enabling our law colleges not merely to have a look at the written word or the text of the judgments, but the antecedent material in the form of arguments which are made by lawyers so as to give a new understanding or appreciation of the work which we as judges do,” CJI said.