NEW DELHI: Underlining the importance of use of technology in making justice accessible to all and to provide judicial service at the doorsteps of citizens, CJI DY
Chandrachud
on Saturday said that e-Courts are futuristic judiciary where there would be paperless court proceedings through digitisation, e-filing, virtual courts, e-payments and also audio and visual communication between people at various locations for hearings.
Addressing a conference of Chief Justices/Chairmen of Supreme Courts of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) member states on ‘Smart Courts and Future of Judiciary’, Justice Chandrachud said that in a diverse country like India, the judicial system also needed to ensure that timely and effective justice is delivered to everyone. “With that objective in mind, it has become imperative that we use technology to bridge the gap between citizens and the justice system by reaching out to them. Furthermore, there is now a global consensus that justice is not merely a ‘sovereign function’ but an ‘essential service’. Accordingly, our design of Smart Courts must reflect this shift, and technology be used as an important enabler to reach out to the citizens,” he said.
The CJI said that two phases of e-Courts projects are over and the third phase has begun to develop a robust nationwide monitoring mechanism, and to move towards paperless courts, and to improve “transparency, accessibility and accountability through live streaming”.
Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul said it is the poor and deprived sections of society which are at the receiving end of the system and they should be given protection and
legal
access.
