Over 660 crore court pages digitised, 2,444 eSewa Kendras set up under e-Courts project

New Delhi [India], March 12 (ANI): The Government has undertaken several initiatives to strengthen the digital ecosystem of the judiciary with the aim of ensuring faster disposal of cases, improving transparency, and enhancing access to justice. These measures are being implemented primarily under the e-Courts Mission Mode Project and through a centrally sponsored scheme that supports State Governments and Union Territories in developing infrastructure for the district and subordinate judiciary.
According to information shared by Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, the digital justice system introduced under the e-Courts project has significantly streamlined judicial processes while making the justice delivery system more transparent and accessible.
The first phase of the project, launched in 2011 with a budget of Rs. 935 crore, focused on building the foundational digital infrastructure for courts across the country. During this phase, 14,249 district and subordinate courts were computerised, Local Area Networks were installed in 13,683 courts, and software systems for digital case management were enabled in 13,672 courts. Video conferencing facilities were also introduced in 493 courts and 347 jails.
The second phase of the project, implemented between 2015 and 2023 with an allocation of Rs. 1,670 crore, expanded the focus to citizen-centric digital services. The number of computerised courts increased to 18,735, representing a 31.5 per cent rise from Phase I. Video conferencing facilities also saw a major expansion, covering 3,240 courts and 1,272 jails. Nearly 99.5 per cent of court complexes were connected through Wide Area Network (WAN), ensuring stable digital connectivity. This phase also saw the launch of key digital platforms, including the Case Information System (CIS), the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG), and eSewa Kendras aimed at assisting citizens and lawyers with court-related services.
The government has significantly increased the budget for the third phase of the project, allocating Rs. 7,210 crore for the period 2023-2027. Phase III aims to transform Indian courts into fully digital and paperless institutions. The plan includes digitisation of legacy and ongoing case records, expansion of video conferencing facilities to courts, jails, and hospitals, and extending the scope of online courts beyond traffic cases. The phase also envisages the universal establishment of eSewa Kendras and the creation of a cloud-based data repository to securely store digitised court records and applications.
At present, more than 660.36 crore pages of court records have been digitised, while 2,444 eSewa Kendras have been established across the country to improve citizen service delivery. Courts have conducted over 3.97 crore hearings through video conferencing, and about 1.07 crore cases have been filed electronically through the eFiling platform.
The government has also expanded live streaming of court proceedings to additional High Courts, including Uttarakhand, Calcutta, Telangana, and Meghalaya, taking the total number of High Courts offering live streaming to eleven. In addition, all eCourts portals are now hosted on the National Informatics Centre's cloud infrastructure, and district court websites have been migrated to the Secure, Scalable, and Sugamya Website as a Service (S3WAAS) platform.
The Case Information System has also been upgraded to CIS 4.0, aimed at improving transparency, objectivity, and speed in case management. Advanced technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and Optical Character Recognition are also being integrated into judicial workflows. These include an AI and machine learning-based defect identification module developed by the Supreme Court in collaboration with IIT Madras and the Legal Research and Analysis Assistant (LegRAA) developed by the NIC's Centre of Excellence under the guidance of the eCommittee.
Officials said the Digital Courts platform now enables judges to access all case-related documents, pleadings, and evidence digitally, marking a major step towards a fully paperless judicial ecosystem in India. (ANI)