Somewhere in Delhi....

With gavel-hammering judges moving over to touchscreen handbooks, Delhi high court created history on Tuesday by showcasing the first e-courtroom in the country. The court of Justice S Ravindra Bhat looked unlike any other courtroom, with a sleek, wide LCD screen on the wall and a touchscreen handbook replacing the bulky files as the HC launched its first eco-friendly initiative to go paperless and also bring about speedy justice. Cumbersome paperwork has been replaced by digitalized files and judges can directly access them on a display monitor. With a target of digitalizing all documents within two years, the court has launched a pilot project which went on smoothly on the first day. Though 33 matters were listed for the day, around 18 cases were disposed of within the first two hours, which on a routine basis take the entire day. The judge used his special LCD touchscreen to make corrections and his digital signature to certify the copy. The lawyers gave the concept a thumbs-up, saying there were no glitches during the proceedings. Some counsel still preferred to use their paper files, an option given to them for the time being to enable them to adjust to accessing case files from their laptops. The court has already digitalized around 5.5 crore papers pertaining to various cases upto 2007. It is also considering recording the statement of witnesses through video-conferencing to avoid procedural delays. Lawyers will now be required to file the petitions in PDF form which will soon be converted into the court-compatible mode. Archival material in digitalized form will have a backup in two different cities to prevent any permanent loss of data. Speaking on creation of a virtual courtroom, Justice S Murlidhar, a member of the ecourt committee, had said that they would soon be launching webcasts of court proceedings. Judges say this will not only ensure speedy justice but was also count for an eco-friendly step. The committee also said the concept would be implemented in the trial courts once the project was set in motion in the HC. With the help of e-courts, warrants, court notices and other documents can be sent via email. For those who do not have an email id, the summons will be sent through email to the nearest post office, which will then take a printout and hand it over to the person concerned. SMS alerts about court hearings to advocates and litigants, summons through emails, e-stamps instead of stamp paper, recording of evidence through video-conferencing and virtual tour of court premises will be implemented soon. If successful, the concept of e-courts will be implemented in the district courts too.