Information and communication technology (ICT) has changed the way legal and judicial systems are operating world wide. Even law firms are adopting technology for better and efficient legal functions. Legal management system in India is developing along with use of ICT for judicial purposes in India. Online courts in India are part and parcel of the e-courts project of India. E-courts project of India is again a part of the national e-governance plan (NEGP) of India. Under the NEGP scheme, courts of India are required to be upgraded and made compatible with the use of ICT.
So what is the status of online courts in India? According to Praveen Dalal, managing partner of New Delhi base techno legal ICT law firm Perry4Law and leading techno legal expert of India, Online Courts in India have still to see the light of the day. India is still at the first stage of Computerisation of some of the aspects of Courts. Full fledged E-Filling, Submission of Plaints and Documents Online, Online Evidence Producing, etc are still missing, informs Dalal.
Online courts in India could not be established as there is lack of planning and foresight. The present e-court infrastructure of India is not in good shape and it urgently requires rejuvenation. Another factor going against the establishment of online courts in India is the fact that we do not have a legal enablement of ICT systems in India. Till a legal framework conducive for techno legal development of Indian judiciary is not established, legal and judicial systems of India have little incentives to adopt technology.
Further, online courts in India cannot be established till we have techno legal expertise to establish, maintain and upgrade court’s infrastructure. We have a single and exclusive techno legal online courts training and consultancy centre of India. The centre provides techno legal assistance for establishment, maintenance and upgradation of e-courts infrastructure all over the world.
The essential parameters for the establishment of online courts in India have not yet been met. The moment e-filing, presentation, contest and adjudication of the cases in an online environment would start, India would surely be capable of establishing online courts. In the absence of these capabilities, we have to wait for few more years to get speedier justice in India.
