VIDEO CONFERENCING FACILITY
IN HIGH COURTS
With the establishment
of video conferencing system at the Allahabad High Court linking
it with its Lucknow Bench, the deck is now clear for setting up
of such system between the Principal Benches and Regional Benches
of High Courts wherever they exist. The video conferencing facility
at the Allahabad High Court was commissioned on September 10,
2002.
The video conferencing
facility between the Principal Bench of the Allahabad High Court
and its Lucknow Bench is designed to provide a better coordination
and monitoring of day to day activities between the two.
Apart from extending
video conferencing facility between the Principal Benches and
Regional Benches of various High Courts in the country, the Principal
Benches of all High Courts are proposed to be linked on video
conferencing with District Judges in all the States. To begin
with, such facility will be established between the District Judges
and the Administrative Judges of the Allahabad High Court in Uttar
Pradesh. This will help the Administrative Judges speak to their
respective judges under their control for a better and efficient
judicial administration. This will also save them considerable
time, resources and drudgery of going to the districts. The time,
thus, saved would help accelerate disposal of cases apart from
increasing the efficiency of Administrative Judges. This would
benefit the litigants largely.
The establishment
of video conferencing facility in District Courts will help in
examining the witnesses residing or posted in other Districts.
Besides, this facility is being established in jails to provide
for recording of evidence of accused from there in order to effect
economy in expenditure of transporting them to and from jails.
This will also provide safety to the accused from their rivals
trying to eliminate them forcibly. In Delhi alone, about Rs. 5
crore is to be saved annually with the introduction of video conferencing
facility between District Courts and Tihar Jail.
The introduction
of video conferencing facility between the Principal Benches of
High Courts and their Regional Benches, between High Courts and
District Courts, and between District Courts and jails is intended
to effect economy of scale in the administration of criminal justice.
This will also help the High Courts maintain their administrative
and financial cohesiveness.
