eCourts Phase III
Why in News?
The eCourts Phase III project is in the news following recent Union Budget updates allocating ₹1,200 crore specifically for the project to accelerate the digital transformation of India's lower judiciary and dramatically cut down case pendency.
Project Information
- Nature of Scheme: It is a Central Sector Scheme spanning four years (2023–2027).
- Financial Outlay: The total sanctioned financial budget stands at ₹7,210 crore.
- Implementing Agencies: Jointly executed by the Department of Justice (Ministry of Law & Justice) and the e-Committee of the Supreme Court of India.
- Primary Objective: Transitioning Indian judiciary into an entirely paperless, digital, and online court ecosystem.
Key Features and Strategic Enhancements
- Legacy Record Digitisation: Complete electronic storage of past, pending, and live case portfolios.
- Advanced Infrastructure: Expansion of smart video-conferencing units across 9,000 courts, 500 jails, and 700 district hospitals.
- Emerging Technology Use: Embedding Artificial Intelligence (AI), Optical Character Recognition (OCR), and data analytics to predict litigation trends and assist judges in prioritising cases.
- Citizen and Lawyer Access: Saturating court premises with e-Sewa Kendras to assist underprivileged and digitally excluded citizens.
- Accessibility Focused: Implementing the accessible S3WaaS web framework to ensure visually and physically challenged individuals navigate legal assets seamlessly.
