Glitches cannot stop use of technology, says CJI Chandrachud

Bengaluru: Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrahud on Saturday said that information and communication technology has to be a part of the heart of the ecosystem. Referring to the recent glitch wherein some unknown miscreants hacked into the video conferencing system in Karnataka high court, the Chief Justice of India said that such glitches cannot stop the use of technology.

The Chief Justice of India was speaking after launching e-initiatives of Karnataka high court. The CJI cited the apex court judgement in Sarvesh Mathur where the top court had issued several directions to ensure the continued use of video conferencing facilities across high courts. “Certain high courts have adopted their video conferencing rules. They have imposed conditions on the use of video conferencing. I know that there was recently a glitch in the Karnataka high court because of the hacking into the data. We are all perturbed by it. But, this is something which we have to live by. We have to make our systems more robust and ensure that if there is a glitch we attend to that glitch,” Chief Justice Chandrachud said.

He further said, “You all have probably seen clips from the video conferencing from the court rooms (in social media). Honestly, we all have to live with it. We have to understand that by the minute we are being observed, by the minute we are being video recorded, by the minute we are being audio recorded.”

The Chief Justice said, “It is not the question of making the migration from paper to electronic. That is not just enough. What we are now aspiring for is a digital transformation of Indian Judiciary. Information and communication technology has to be truly a part of the heart of our ecosystem.”

The Chief Justice of India complimented Karnataka judiciary for disposing of 1,69,46,085 cases during this year and said that if the judges get more acquainted with the technological tools, pendency can be addressed with close monitoring. Chief Justice of the Karnataka high court Prasanna B Varale informed various e-initiatives taken up by the high court. Supreme Court judges Justice B V Nagaratna and Justice Aravind Kumar were present.