Udaipur, February 14: In response to a question raised by Rajya Sabha MP Chunnilal Garasiya, the Union Minister of Law and Justice, Arjun Ram Meghwal, provided details on the Indian government’s plan to digitize the judiciary. The initiative aims to convert all courts into digital and paperless entities, involving the digitization of court records and the establishment of a cloud-based data repository.
The plan includes expanding video conferencing facilities in prisons and selected hospitals, as well as extending online courts beyond traffic violations. Emerging technologies such as AI and OCR will be utilized for case analysis and forecasting.
The minister informed that the government is implementing the e-Courts Mission Mode Project in phases to enhance the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the judicial system. Currently, the project is in Phase 3 (2023-2027) with a financial outlay of ₹7,210 crores. By December 31, 2025, over 637.85 crore pages are expected to be digitized across all courts.
During this period, 29 virtual courts have been established, receiving 9.81 crore challans and resolving 8.74 crore cases. Video conferencing facilities have been made available in 3,240 court complexes and 1,272 jails, facilitating over 3.93 crore hearings through this medium. Live streaming of proceedings has commenced in 11 High Courts, and through e-filing and e-payment systems, 1.03 crore cases have been filed with digital payments exceeding ₹1.297 crore.
The e-Court Services mobile app has been downloaded 3.5 crore times, providing real-time information to lawyers and litigants. Significant steps have been taken towards paperless courts with AI-based translation and transcription features in Digital Court 2.1. Financial assistance has been provided to High Courts for hardware, networking, and video conferencing. Under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS), ₹12,461.28 crores have been released for district and subordinate courts.