Rs 7,000 cr proposed budgetary allocation for eCourts project phase 3 to enhance judicial efficiency: CJI

Between March 23, 2020, and October 30, 2022, the apex court heard 3.37 lakh cases through video conferencing, the CJI said

Maintaining that the Supreme Court has made a constant endeavor to ensure access to justice for everyone, Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud said the Union Government's announcement for provision of Rs 7,000 cr for phase III of the e-Courts project will help enhance accessibility of judicial institutions and improve the efficiency of the justice delivery system in India.

"Such endeavors will ensure that the court truly reaches out to every citizen of our country," he said in his speech at the commemoration of 73rd anniversary of the Supreme Court of India.

Delivering his speech in presence of Singapore Supreme Court Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, Justice Chandrachud said the court has facilitated increased access to justice by dilution of the requirement of locus standi through public interest litigation in the 1980s, i.e. anyone can approach the constitutional courts in India to seek redressal of a violation of the fundamental rights of any person.

"By doing so, the court opened its door to persons bereft of means to approach the courts because of their social and economic disadvantage. This has provided a space for citizens to converse with the state on equal terms. In turn, the court has been using its jurisdiction to make the “rule of law” a daily reality for persons belonging to marginalized communities," he said.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the Supreme Court adopted innovative technological solutions to reach out to people by adopting video-conferencing of court proceedings. Between March 23, 2020 and October 31, 2022, the Supreme Court alone heard 3.37 lakh cases through video conferencing.

"We updated our video conferencing infrastructure in courtrooms at a meta scale. And we are continuing to use such technological infrastructure to allow a hybrid mode of court hearings that allows parties to join court proceedings from any part of the world online," the court said.

He also emphasised that for the court, there are no big and small cases – every matter is important, and the court has sought to use the language of the Constitution to humanise law and act as the protector and defender of fundamental rights and liberties.

"If we peruse the history of this court, we realise that the history of the Supreme Court is the history of the daily life struggles of the Indian people,” he said.

Referring to the daily case mentioning list, he stressed that through these seeming requests, we can sense the pulse of the nation. “Above all, the message in this uniquely citizen-centric initiative is an assurance that the court exists to protect our citizens from injustice, their liberties are as precious to us and that the judges work in close connect with our citizens,” the CJI said.

During the programme, Justice Menon delivered his lecture on ‘Role of judiciary in a changing world’.