Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed Ministers, Secretaries, Joint Secretaries and other officers and staff of the various ministries during Post Budget webinar on “Unleashing the Potential: Ease of living using Technology”. Union Minister of Law & Justice, Shri Kiren Rijiju joined the event virtually. Shri Prof. S.P. Singh Baghel, Minister of State for Law and Justice also graced the occasion. This webinar was coordinated by the Ministry of Electronics &IT and Department of Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade. As a part of the webinar, four parallel breakout sessions were held on different themes – Ease of Living using technology for access (led by MeitY); ease of accessing justice (led by DoJ); ease of doing business using technology, especially for small businesses (led by DPIIT); and ease of living using 5G use-cases and labs (led by DoT) were organized.
As a nodal department for Session 2 , the Department of Justice conducted the Session on Ease of accessing justice (E-Courts) under which eCourts Project Stakeholder Consultation was organised today at Jaisalmer House, New Delhi. The session was moderated by Secretary (Justice) Shri. S.K.G. Rahate and co-hosted by Shri P.P. Pandey JS (eCourts) followed by the Q&A from the distinguished audience. Short film on eCourts Mission Mode Project, showcasing its achievement since its inception, was also unveiled during the event.
eCourts Mission Mode Project Implemented under the partnership of Department of Justice & eCommittee, Supreme Court of India For ICT development of the Indian Judiciary based on the “National Policy & Action Plan for Implementation of Information & Communication technology in Indian Judiciary”.
Under the leadership of Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji, eCourts has transformed the conventional ways of governance, successfully completed its 2 phases recently the Union Government in its Budget 2023-24 has announced Rs. 7000 Cr. for eCourts phase III.
To leverage emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Blockchain among others and going towards the complete paperless court, Phase-III of the eCourts MMP envisioned to make the judiciary more accessible for the common citizens. Stakeholder Consultation organised by the Department of justice today, having eminent sectoral experts to deliberate on the way forward for the technology enablement of the Indian Courts.
Mr. Surya Prakash B S, Programme Director, DAKSH deliberated in detail on the needs and expectations of the eCourts project from the user perspective. He stated the provisional budgetary allocations of Rs. 7000 Cr. for phase III as a remarkable achievement of the present dispensation and said comprehensive reforms will be rolled out to cater the needs of the general public.
Mr. Abhilash Malhotra, Central Project Coordinator, High Court of Delhi shared his experience of Virtual Courts in Delhi High Court and scope for expansion under e-Courts Phase-III. He also stressed on the integration of latest technical tools in the Judiciary to make the procedures more transparent, accountable & efficient.
Technology adoption by all stakeholders is necessary to bring change at a broader level. We are in a position to laid framework which could be relied on by future generations said Mr. Joseph Pookkatt, Lawyer & Senior Partner, APJ-SLJ Law Offices.
Mr. Chakit Swarup emphasised on mainstreaming ICJS or interoperable criminal justice system, an ambitious project of Govt of India to integrate 5 important pillars of criminal justice system i.e.E-courts, CCTNS or police station, ePrisons, eProsecution, eForensics by use of information technology so that information can flow among these different components seamlessly and we can ensure speedy disposal of legal cases.
Dr. Vivek Raghavan, ex-Chief Product Manager, UIDAI cited the real life examples while stressing on the importance of application of AI in judiciary to make justice more accessible. He also suggested utilising new generation legal tools, Speech recognition softwares to make legal cases translated in regional/vernacular languages for the universal access to masses.
Closing remarks were given by Secretary(Justice) Shri S.K.G. Rahate wherein he thanked all the distinguished speakers from diverse backgrounds for presenting insightful perspectives and stressed that with an over encompassing vision of ‘Digital India’ under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modi, India as a Nation is on the path of becoming a developed country by 2047 and this period of Amrit kaal presents an opportunity to be the changemaker in our sphere of influence. Thus the Department of Justice is committed to rise on the occasion to fructify the dream of Paperless courts with the enablement of technologies of 21st century through its eCourts mission mode project in association with eCommittee Supreme Court of India.
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