E-Courts In India Must Be Expedited

Pendencies of cases in Indian courts are normal phenomenon these days. Delay in resolution of disputes adversely affects the confidence of business community and international investors. While traditional litigation system of India cannot be reformed overnight yet effective steps in this direction must be urgently taken.

Technology can be a viable option for resolving judicial problems in India. For instance online dispute resolution (ODR) mechanism can be effectively used to resolve many disputes in an online environment. Similarly, e-courts in India can be established to reduce corruption and irregularities of Indian judicial system.

There is no second opinion that e-courts in India needed. However, establishment of e-courts in India is still a dream as e-courts project of India has failed to provide the necessary impetus in this regard. There are many reasons why e-courts in India failed to take off. The chief among them is the absence of necessary expertise to manage and implement e-courts project of India.

For instance, we have a single techno legal e-courts training and consultancy centre in India. It is managed by Perry4Law Techno Legal Base (PTLB). We need more such specialised institutions to successfully manage the e-courts project of India.

Recently on the occasion of Law Day, Union law minister Salman Khurshid shared his desire for making court proceedings paperless. He asked whether Indian Supreme Court can be paperless. Citing the example of Brazil he stressed that India needs to move in that direction as well.

The idea is good provided India has necessary expertise and will to implement the e-court project of India. Presently that seems to be missing and this make the paperless court a distant dream in India.