e-Courts Integrated Mission Mode Project is one of the national e-Governance projects being implemented in the High Courts and District/ Subordinate Courts of the country. The Project has been conceptualized on the basis of the ‘National Policy and Action Plan for Implementation of Information and Communication Technology in the Indian Judiciary-2005’ by the e-Committee of the Supreme Court of India.
e-Courts Integrated Mission Mode Project envisages computerization of 14,249 District and Subordinate courts by 31st March 2014. An amount of Rs. 935 crore has been sanctioned by the Government for the Project. National Informatics Centre (NIC) is the implementing agency for the Project.
The basic infrastructure for ICT enablement consists of various modules such as setting up of LAN and Hardware, deployment of Case Information Software (CIS) application software, and establishment of WAN / broadband connectivity.An Empowered Committee has been constituted under the Chairpersonship of the Secretary, Department of Justice, Ministry of Law & Justice, to give strategic direction and guidance to the Project.
A project monitoring committee comprising of Department of Justice, representatives of e-Committee and NIC meets on a monthly basis to monitor the progress of the Project. Steering Committee at each High Court oversees the implementation of the Project in their respective High Court.
In August 2012, the Chief Justice of India appointed a puisne Judge of the Supreme Court as In-Charge e-Committee. He has provided fillip to the implementation of the Project by holding regular meetings with Chairpersons of the Computer Committee of the High Courts and by reviewing the progress of the Project.
As on 31st March 2013, a total of 12,233 District & Subordinate courts have been computerized. Balance 2,016 District and Subordinate courts are proposed to be computerized by 31st March, 2014 subject to the sites being made ready in time.
The amount allocated, released and utilized in the last three years is:
High Court wise details of the number of courts which have been computerized under the scheme are:
*Courts computerized through other projects, not through e-Courts Integrated Mission Mode Project
Secretary, Department of Justice, has undertaken visits to various High Courts and met with Chief Justices stressing the importance and role of Judiciary for the success of the e-Courts Integrated Mission Mode Project. He has convened regular meetings involving High Courts for fixing monthly targets and for reviewing the progress of implementation with them, NIC and vendors.
The e-Courts Project has been integrated with other Mission Mode Projects (MMPs) under the National e-Governance Plan such as State-Wide Area Network (SWAN), State Data Centre (SDC), Common Service Centres and also will have interoperability with the Crime & Criminal Tracking Network System (CCTNS) Project and other related MMPs.
The National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) is also a part of the e-Courts Integrated Mission Mode Project. NJDG will work as a monitoring tool to identify, manage & reduce pendency of cases. It will also help to provide timely inputs for making policy decisions to reduce delay and arrears in the system, facilitate better monitoring of court performance and systemic bottlenecks, and, thus, facilitate better resource management.
The NJDG will cover all categories of cases, including those relating to juvenile justice system. The NJDG is being implemented on a pilot basis in the current financial year 2013-14.
