India’s judiciary is undergoing a major technological transformation, with more than 660.36 crore pages of court records digitised as part of a nationwide effort to modernise the justice delivery system and improve public access to courts. Alongside this large-scale digitisation drive, 2,444 e-Seva Kendras have been established across the country to provide services and assistance to citizens and lawyers.
The digital transformation is being implemented under the e-Courts Mission Mode Project, an initiative aimed at integrating modern technology into judicial processes to enhance transparency, efficiency, and accessibility. Courts have already conducted more than 3.97 crore hearings through video conferencing, while nearly 1.07 crore cases have been filed electronically through the e-filing platform.
The information was shared by Minister of State for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.
Building the Foundations of Digital Courts
The first phase of the e-Courts Mission Mode Project, launched in 2011 with an outlay of ₹935 crore, focused on establishing the basic digital infrastructure required for courts to function in a technology-enabled environment.
During this phase, 14,249 district and subordinate courts were computerised. Local area networks were installed in 13,683 courts and software for digital case management was deployed in 13,672 courts. Video conferencing facilities were introduced in 493 courts and 347 prisons, laying the groundwork for remote hearings and digital case management.
Expansion of Citizen-Centric Digital Services
The second phase of the project, implemented between 2015 and 2023 with an outlay of ₹1,670 crore, significantly expanded the scale and scope of the initiative by focusing on citizen-oriented digital services.
The number of computerised courts rose to 18,735, marking a 31.5 percent increase over the first phase. Video conferencing facilities expanded sharply, covering 3,240 courts, representing a 557 percent increase, and 1,272 prisons, reflecting a 266 percent rise.
Connectivity also improved across the judicial system, with Wide Area Network connectivity reaching 99.5 percent of court complexes.
This phase also saw the introduction of several key digital platforms. These included the free and open source Case Information System for managing case data, the National Judicial Data Grid as an online repository of case information, and the establishment of e-Seva Kendras to provide direct service delivery to citizens and lawyers.
Phase III Targets Paperless Courts
The government has substantially increased funding for the third phase of the project, allocating ₹7,210 crore for the period between 2023 and 2027. This phase aims to transform Indian courts into digital and paperless institutions.
Key initiatives include the digitisation of both past and current case records, the expansion of video conferencing facilities to all courts, prisons, and hospitals, and the extension of online courts beyond traffic violation cases. Plans also include expanding e-Seva Kendras across the country and creating a state-of-the-art cloud-based repository for storing digital court records and applications.
Artificial Intelligence Enters Judicial Processes
Technology-driven tools are also being integrated into judicial workflows. The Case Information System has been upgraded to version 4.0, which aims to bring greater objectivity, transparency, and speed to case management.
Advanced artificial intelligence-based tools are being incorporated into the system. These include an AI and machine learning based fault detection module developed by the Supreme Court in collaboration with IIT Madras, as well as the Legal Research and Analysis Assistant developed by the National Informatics Centre’s Centre of Excellence under the guidance of the e-Committee.
The digital court platform now enables judges to access all case-related documents, pleadings, and evidence electronically, marking a significant step towards a fully paperless court system.
In addition, live streaming of court proceedings has been extended to four more High Courts, including Uttarakhand, Kolkata, Telangana, and Meghalaya, taking the total number of High Courts offering this facility to eleven.
All e-Court portals are now hosted on the National Informatics Centre’s cloud infrastructure, and district court websites have been migrated to a secure and scalable Website as a Service platform, strengthening digital access to the judicial system across the country.
