PIL Seeking Optical Fiber Network, IT Infra. For District Courts: Andhra Pradesh High Court Seeks Centre, State Govt. Response

The Andhra Pradesh High Court last week sought Central and State Governments' response on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) Petition which seeks dedicated optical fiber network with supporting IT infrastructure for the District and Mofussil courts.

The Bench of Chief Justice Arup Kumar Goswami and Justice Ninala Jayasurya issued the notices returnable within 8 weeks.

Last year, the Delhi High Court had, while hearing a petition seeking directions to install a fiber line for internet in Delhi courts for effective virtual hearing, asked the petitioners to make a representation before the departments concerned first.

As per the Government of India's statement, as many as 2927 Court complexes across India have been connected by a high-speed Wide Area Network (WAN) under e-Courts Project (till December 2020).

Under the e-Courts Project, one of the largest digital networks of the world was conceived by the Department of Justice along with the e-Committee of the Supreme Court of India to connect the 2992 court complexes located all over India by a high-speed Wide Area Network (WAN) via different modes of connectivity such as Optical Fiber Cable (OFC), Radio Frequency (RF), Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT), etc. 

Earlier this month, the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had approved the continuation of the Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) for Development of Infrastructure Facilities for Judiciary for another five years from April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2026.

The entire cost of the scheme will be Rs 9000 crore out of which the Centre will contribute Rs 5357 crore including Rs 50 crore for the implementation of the Gram Nyayalayas Scheme as a part of the National Mission for Justice Delivery and Legal Reforms.

In related news, underlining that access to Internet services has assumed great importance on account of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Himachal Pradesh High Court recently observed that:

"The need of the hour is to provide adequate bandwidth, network-attached storage and routers etc. to facilitate the conducting of educational courses, conferences, court proceedings etc. on virtual platform."

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