New Delhi: As India emerges out of
Covid-19 crisis,
Supreme Court's E-committee, in sync with government's initiative on ease of doing business, has developed a paperless module for commercial courts, where trial shall be conducted in a digital environment.
Justice
DY Chandrachud, chairman of the E-Committee, told ET that the module would help in speedy disposal of commercial disputes. “It is a high priority area for us and paperless module has been developed to further create ease in doing business,” Justice Chandrachud said. A pilot project will be launched in commercial courts at district level, said Justice Chandrachud. The World Bank has guidelines and ten parameters to determine ranking in ease of doing business, and this should help in timely disposal of commercial disputes, he said.
The apex court has already set up e-sewa kendras to handhold litigants and lawyers who may have some difficulty in e-filings, he said. India has been improving its rank in the World Bank’s ease of doing business index but enforceability of contracts remain an area of concern. A member of the e-committee, who did not wish to be identified, said to address this concern there were suggestions to work on areas such as digitisation, e-summoning and e-filing.
Justice Chandrachud said Covid-19 has also provided an opportunity for technological advancement. The beauty of technology is that it is complex for the person who designs it but is user-friendly, he said. “I was in a videoconference for two hours for final hearings and many young lawyers told me it was more organised and disciplined, without any unnecessary interruptions. There are some technical glitches, like connectivity and bandwidth issues, in a videoconference, but these will stabilise,” said Justice Chandrachud. Meanwhile, the e-committee has completed computerisation of district and subordinate courts across the country, with facility of videoconferencing installed in courts and jails.
The eCourts Integrated Mission Mode Project is one of the National e-Governance projects being implemented in district and subordinate courts. The objective of the project is to provide designated services to litigants, lawyers and judiciary through universal computerisation of district and subordinate courts, as well as the upgradation of ICT infrastructure of the Supreme Court and high courts.