Evening Courts & Virtual Hearings At District Level Matters Of Policy, Can't Pass Uniform Directions : Supreme Court

The Supreme Court today (September 6) dismissed a petition seeking provisions for virtual hearings at district courts as well as 'evening courts' at the district level.

The bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra orally observed that uniform directions can't be issued across all district courts ignoring the complexities of administration.

Kishan Chand Jain, the petitioner in person, submitted that the initiation of the virtual hearings at the district level can happen in a phased manner.

CJI said,-"Of course, there are provisions for virtual hearing. But we cannot now monitor. Do you know how many District Courts there are in the country?"

On the aspect of conducting evening courts, the CJI said, "After arguing for the whole day in the regular courts, we direct that there will be evening courts, lawyers after their day's work will be arguing in the evening Courts?"

The CJI added that a uniform direction cannot be imposed on all district courts, considering the various complexities and obstacles faced by the High Courts and District courts at an individual level

"These are matters of policy, we cannot lay down one size fits all solutions for the entire country. The Country is too complex to issue these kinds of directions."

The CJI expressed that progress on introducing virtual courts is closely being dealt with under the Phase 3 of E-Courts Project.

"Rest assured that individual aspects like virtual courts are being looked into, we have a budget which has been sanctioned by the govt of 7000 crores, which are looked into in Phase 3. But we cannot issue directions. These are critical aspects of the ongoing projects of bringing technology into the judiciary."

The e-courts project is a National eGovernance project for the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) enablement of the judiciary in India at all levels to facilitate the speedy disposal of cases. It was conceptualised by the e-Committee constituted by the Supreme Court under the National Policy and Action Plan for Implementation of Information and Communication Technology. The e-committee is headed by the Chief Justice of India.

Notably, in the monsoon session of the Parliament, the Union Ministry of Law disclosed data on the allocation of funds under the ongoing project.

The petitioner however highlighted that since new criminal laws passed by the Parliament mandate the digital recording of evidence, it would be imperative to have virtual hearing facilities at the district level as 75% of the pending cases are criminal ones. The Counsel was referring to the new provisions on 'E-evidence' under the Bhartiya Sakshya Adhiniyam 2023.

The CJI in response said :

"I wish you see the Phase 3 of the E-Courts Project which is available in the public domain, the sanction which has been granted by the government. 94-95% of the monies of the first tranch was sent to the High Courts within a period of less than 10 months....High Courts have done a commendable job, I mean different High Courts have different problems."

The CJI explained that despite the individual obstacles of each High Court, the E-Courts Project has still been progressing.

The bench disinclined to entertain the petition any further, dismissed the same.

Case Details : KISHAN CHAND JAIN Versus UNION OF INDIA AND ORS. W.P.(C) No. 497/2024

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