A PILOT CAPACITY BUILDING PROGRAMME FOR COURTS
IN METROPOLISES
A pilot capacity building programme of computerization and networking
of courts in four metropolises of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata
at a cost of Rs. 14.19 crores has been taken up. Of this, Rs.
8.53 crore has been allocated with an amount of Rs 4.98 crore
for computerization project in Delhi, Rs. 1.17 crore for computerization
of courts in Kolkata, Rs. 1.56 crore for Mumbai and Rs. 0.82 crore
for Chennai. The remaining amount of Rs. 6.40 crore has been kept
for the computerization project in the three metropolitan cities
of Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai after reviewing the progress by
the Project Steering Committee and on receipt of due utilization
certificate from the States of West Bengal, Maharashtra and Chennai.
Computers in these courts will be networked with a central enquiry
and facilitation centre connected to this network to be set up
in each court complex. This will enable parties to file their
complaints or petitions and also make enquiries about pending
cases at these centers. They will be informed of the defects in
their complaints and petitions, if any, without the need to access
individual courts, and ask to rectify the defects within a specified
time of two weeks. Thereafter, the case would be registered and
a registration number allotted by the computer. The case could
then be allocated to a judge or magistrate according to the work
distribution already fed into the computer and a date for appearance
of parties specified by the computer. Chronological record of
the trial would be maintained on the network and the final order,
after it has been delivered, would be made available on the network.
Copies of orders could then be obtained by the parties on payment,
from these facilitation or enquiry centers. Cause lists of courts
would be prepared with the help of computers. Similar cases could
be clubbed together by the computer. Search of judicial precedence
would get facilitated by the use of computer.
Courts in the country, particularly district and subordinate
courts, which constitute the cutting edge of the justice system,
are in dire need of modernization. After the modernization of
courts in four metropolises, the modernization of other district
and subordinate courts would be taken up on a cost sharing basis
with the States.
It is expected that computerization and networking of courts
would substantially expand the capacities of courts and speed
up the delivery of the justice system.
