Justice D Y Chandrachud, Judge of the Supreme Court said that the functioning of court through a virtual medium has increased the productivity of young lawyers particularly the women lawyers. He said that “I am particularly impressed with the number of juniors who are appearing in the Supreme Court in virtual hearing. They have a sense of confidence and they are not daunted by real physical Court where they have to argue in front of hundreds of lawyers".
Justice DY Chandrachud has said that the many young women have multifold responsibilities at their homes and officers, the virtual court ensures a high level of productivity as they know when their case will be called out and they are available accordingly. They don't have to wait for long as it happens in the physical court hearing.
Justice D Y Chandrachud who is also Chairman of the e-committee of Supreme Court was speaking in the virtual inaugural function of the five e-courts project of Madras High Court. We virtually inaugurated the National Service and Tracking of Electronic Project, E-Seva Kendra at Yercaud, E-Court Services, Biometric Attendance for all district courts in Tamil Nadu, and E- Way finder at the principal seat of Madras High court at Chennai.
Justice Chandrachud has emphasized the importance of e-Seva kendras and said that “We as members of the judiciary cannot tell a litigant that we cannot provide you service because you do not have internet or a smartphone. Therefore, the e-committee of the Supreme Court has taken up the application of ensuring that there is e-Seva Kendra in every court complexes in India over 3200 code complexes in India."
He also suggested that the statistics available in the National Judicial Data Grid can be utilized for assessment of judicial officer not only in the terms of the cases they dispose of but also how far the court has managed to incorporate the ICT governance system.
Further suggested, that the land records in State should be linked with the courts so that judge can verify the land if they are available when it is given as security or when the property is in dispute.
Justice Chandrachud has also shared some data to explain the functioning of e-courts over the past five months during the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown.
The time period from March 24, 2020, till September 13, 2020, 34.74 Lakh cases were registered in district judiciary in India, and 15.32 Lakh cases where dispose of. During this period, 6957+ 550 cases were registered via virtually and physically respectively. 15, 397 cases were listed on board.
He further added that the project like an NSTEP can cut out the delays and also corruption in the service of summons. E-Courts services can ensure that the justice system is available to every common citizen of the country.
He also said that the e-committee was planning to give training to the young lawyers in different languages so that they can easily adapt the use of technology in the judicial system.
Chief Justice of Madras High Court has delivered the keynote address during the virtual function and it's said that the changes brought by the virtual code are appreciable. He said that "Virtual hearing in Madras High Court is a great success. There is no response to physical hearing. We are overloaded with the cases for virtual hearing; some judges have heavy dockets sitting beyond even 6 p.m."
The Chief Justice of Madras High Court also pointed out some of the success like judges in trial court succeed in recording evidence via virtual Court. This means that witnesses did not have to travel a long distance to reach the court.
Justice T S Sivagnanam, Judge Madras High Court, during his welcome address, shared the statistics related to the Tamil Nadu judiciary. He said that "1.83 lakh cases were filed in the District Courts in Tamil Nadu from March 26 to September 15 via virtual medium and 1.29 lakh cases were disposed of during the said period".
