CUTTACK: Chairperson of Supreme Court of India E-Committee Justice DY Chandrachud on Saturday inaugurated e-filing station, digitisation of record room and paperless bench in the Orissa High Court through virtual mode.
In his inaugural address, Justice Chandrachud said the past year had posed an unprecedented challenge and given us an opportunity as members of the Indian judiciary to reconceptualise the ways and means of administering justice in the country.
“While efforts to modernise the judiciary had started with the launch of e-courts in 2005, the past year has witnessed the transition of the judiciary into a virtual workspace,” he said.
Justice Chandrachud said paperless courts in addition to giving immediate environmental benefit of digitised court records coupled with e-filing also lead to ensuring speedier delivery of justice by reducing the time and resources required for management of physical court records.
He, however, said a paperless court is meaningless if opportunity is not provided to the litigants to file cases electronically.
Justice Chandrachud said the e-filing station remedies a significant barrier to the e-courts project that of narrowing a digital divide particularly for the advocates who lack financial resources and are not digitally literate to benefit from the technology-driven services being provided. The launch of digitisation of record room which would provide amenities for preservation, scanning and storage of the court records is relevant for the purpose of record keeping for posterity. Around, 60,000 case records have been digitised, he said.
He also inaugurated a training programme for judicial officers on conducting court proceeding through video conference at Odisha Judicial Academy.
Chief Justice S Muralidhar, Chairman of Judicial Academy and Training Committee Justice SK Mishra and Chairman of Orissa High Court IT and Artificial Intelligence Committee Justice Biswajit Mohanty were present through video conference.