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Phase III of eCMM project, game-changer in dispensation of justice administration: Centre
The eCourts phase-III aims to revolutionise the integration of technology and governance to enhance the ease of access to justice by 2027.
Hyderabad: The eCourts phase-III aims to revolutionise the integration of technology and governance to enhance the ease of access to justice by 2027.
Of the three-phase eCourts Mission Mode (eCMM) project, the first and second phases have been rolled out during 2011-2015 and 2015-2023.
This was disclosed by Minister of State for Law and Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal to a question by Rajya Sabha MPs Dr K Laxman, Dr Kalpana Saini, MaynkbhaiJyadevbhai Nayak, and Baburam Nishad in RS recently.
At the end of phase III, the initiative seeks to make court experience more convenient, affordable, and hassle-free. The project plans to establish esewakendras at all court complexes, among other measures. It will utilise emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and its subsets, including optical character recognition (OCR), to analyse case backlogs and predict future litigation trends. The project is being implemented for the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) development of the judiciary. The Department of Justice is implementing the eCourts project in close coordination with the eCommittee of the Supreme Court and in a decentralised manner through the respective high courts.
The project phase is pegged as the game changer that was approved (by 2023-2027) by the Cabinet in September 2023 at an outlay of Rs 7,210 crore. This is over four times the funding for phase II. The project envisages various new digital initiatives such as the establishment of digital and paperless courts to bring court proceedings under a digital format, digitisation of court records (both legacy records and pending cases), and expansion of video conferencing facilities to courts, jails, and hospitals.
The scope of online courts goes beyond the adjudication of traffic violations; it includes a saturation of all court complexes with esewakendras, state-of-the-art and the latest cloud-based data repository for easy retrieval and supporting the digitised court records, software applications, live streaming, and electronic evidence. "It uses emerging technologies like AI and its subsets like OCR for analysis of case pendency, forecasting future litigation."
Against this backdrop, "the efforts of the government to integrate technology with governance may prove to be a game changer in the e-courts phase III, ensuring ease of justice by making the court experience convenient, inexpensive, and hassle-free to all citizens."
The phase I was focused on the basics of computerisation, like setting up computer hardware, ensuring internet connectivity, and operationalising the e-courts platform. Against an outlay of Rs 935 crore, the total expenditure incurred was Rs 639.41 crore for the implementation of this phase. The phase focused on ICT enablement of district and subordinate courts and various citizen-centric initiatives. Against an outlay of Rs. 1,670 crore, the total expenditure incurred was Rs 1,668.43 crore for the implementation of the phase. Till 2023, digital infrastructure has been provided to 18,735 courts.
