Virtual Courts A Tremendous Opportunity For Younger Members To Establish Themselves In Profession: Justice Chandrachud

The Karnataka High Court celebrated the e-inauguration of their Virtual Court for traffic challans, e-filing at High Court, Inter-operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS) et al.

Justice DY Chandrachud of the Supreme Court of India, presided over the ceremony, as the Chairman of the e-Committee.

The event commenced with Justice Aravind Kumar, judge of Karnataka HC, noting that nine thousand challans had been generated and fines had been collected in Karnataka. However, with the initiative of ushering in an era of paperless courts, fines could be paid immediately from anywhere by violators, without having any contact with Judges.

Justice Chandrachud was then invited to e-inaugurate the Virtual Court of Karnataka HC. A presentation showcased how the e-Challan system would work, how the violators would be re-routed to their jurisdictional courts. Further, the e-filing system would help in prompting paperless filing and will thus reduce costs, and this would be present in HC and district courts.

Post the presentation, Chief Justice AS Oka of the Karnataka High Court, and Justices AS Bopanna and S. Abdul Nazeer of the Supreme Court, gave an address on the importance of computerization of the justice system, as computers were a silver lining which provided a hope for change.

Justice Chandrachud then began the inaugural address. He welcomed all the participants to the e-inauguration ceremony and congratulated the Karnataka High Court for the manner in which they had handled the challenges faced by the judiciary due to the onset of COVID-19.

"After the dust settles on COVID-19, the image we will have is that of Justice Oka, welcoming a member of the staff who had been infected by the virus, with a rose. It shows sensitivity and sympathy in these trying times", he said.

Justice Chandrachud then enumerated the benefits of virtual courts, as they had provided an opportunity to younger members of the profession to establish themselves, and for women members to appear in Court from the comfort of their homes.

"This has been a tremendous opportunity for younger members of the profession to establish themselves. It has also allowed the women members of the profession to appear in court from the comforts of their homes", he said. 

He then stipulated the positives of Virtual Courts, as 101.74 crores worth of fines had been collected, without the citizen having to go to court. Further, a column for listing the reason for delays in cases had been added, which would help in classifying the delays and helping in the decision-making process.

"We have helped Judges in the smart-listing of cases so that cases are listed at once and reduces the burden on the judiciary. So, an advocate who is busy at one time, is not required in another case at the same time."

Justice Chandrachud then referred to the ICJS, a crucial system which would help to link all the important stakeholders and institutional stakeholders in the criminal justice administration, such as police, the prisons etc. "This will help in data-tracing and disposing of cases quickly".

He concluded the ceremony by elaborating upon the fact that it was a collaborative effort which required all organizations to be on board and indulge in the joint initiative.

Justice John Michael Cunha of Karnataka HC delivered the Vote of Thanks, and on that note, the ceremony came to an end.