eCourts

eCourts is a Mission Mode Project which uses technology to make the judicial processes across district and subordinate courts in India more efficient and speedy delivery of justice.

The project is being implemented under the joint partnership of Department of Justice, Ministry of Law & Justice, Government of India and eCommittee, Supreme Court of India, in a decentralized manner through the respective High Courts.

Phase-I of the project was approved in 2010 and enabled computerization of 14,249 district and subordinate courts by 2015 at a cost of Rs. 639 crores.

Phase-II of this project, which envisions further enhancements, was commissioned in 2015 for a period of four years or till completion of the project, at a budget of Rs. 1670 crores.

The focus of the Phase-II is on enhancing judicial service for litigants and lawyers by providing them technology enabled infrastructure. It involves improved ICT Infrastructure, video conferencing, improved access across seven platforms including web portal, app, judicial service centres, kiosks etc.

The project also includes capacity building of officers, ICT provisioning of District Legal Service Authorities, Taluka Legal Service Committees and State Judicial Academies as well as judicial process re-engineering.

eCourts Project Phase III has been approved by the Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi as a Central Sector Scheme spanning four years (2023 onwards) with financial outlay of Rs.7210 crore. Taking the gains of Phase-I and Phase-II to the next level, the e-Courts Phase-III aims to usher in a regime of maximum ease of justice by moving towards digital, online and paperless courts through digitization of the entire court records including legacy records and by bringing in universalization of e-Filing/ e-Payments through saturation of all court complexes with e-Sewa Kendras. It will put in place intelligent smart systems enabling data-based decision making for judges and registries while scheduling or prioritizing cases. The main objective of the Phase-III is to create a unified technology platform for the judiciary, which will provide a seamless and paperless interface between the courts, the litigants and other stakeholders.