By Priyamvada Suresh
The world is currently reeling under the impact of Covid-19, a global pandemic that has impacted every aspect of human life. The legal system of India including the Alternate Dispute Resolution Mechanism has also been adversely affected.
As courts are an essential service for civil society ,the E- Committee of the Supreme Court of India has designed & set up electronic filing of legal papers (“e-filing”). Using the e-filing, cases (both civil and criminal) can be filed before all High Courts and Subordinate Courts that adopt this e-filing system.
This e-filing system helps in promoting paperless filing and are cost efficient by adopting technological solution to file cases before courts in India.
The Indian Government established the e-Committee of the Judiciary in December 2004, which has seen the steady adoption of electronic infrastructure by courts across the country. The Policy and Action Plan Document for Phase-II of the e-Courts Project of January 2014, intended video conferencing and recording facility for courts and jails.
The overnight notifications issued across the various courts during Covid-19 pandemic is demonstrative of the fact that our courts are well equipped to act fast and act decisively.
The Hon’ble Supreme court addressed the issue of delivery of justice in the form of order during the COVID-19 lockdown on May 15th2020.
A bench consisting CJI Bobde and Justices DY Chandrachud and L Nageswara Rao issued a direction regarding the measures to be taken by courts and adapting the social distancing guidelines.
These guidelines were issued by invoking Article 142 of the Constitution of India as an extra-ordinary jurisdiction. In the order, the District Courts were directed to adopt virtual court hearing through modes prescribed by the concerned High court and to provide video conferencing facilities for litigants who lack resources.
THE IMPACTS OF ONLINE PROCEEDINGS:
There have been both positive and negative impacts of the online legal proceedings. Some of the positive impacts of the proceedings are that :
Information of a particular case is easily accessible at one place and there is no hassle of searching for documents.This would be easier for attorneys,parties and general public.
E-filing of documents would save time and one need not have to post it .The advocates need not wait for new documents and the system can automatically update new documents.
Better court management – E- courts would help in the computerization of work in the courts. Thus, it would help to create a better court and case management.
Video conferencing facilities would be installed in every court complex and the evidence of eyewitness, who are unable to attend the court can be recorded through this method.
It is also cost saving as it reduces the cost of paper work , transportation
E- Filing reduces the dependence of law firms on couriers and third-party delivery services, who may or not be able to come through due to various issues.
One of the biggest advantages is flexibility of the court to work 24/7. There is a huge backlog of cases in court and with this procedure the adjudication of cases can be done in a time bound manner.
In one of the cases conducted during the Covid-19 pandemic through online proceedings
The Madras High Court on Thursday while dismissing a petition filed by two Korean nationals observed that, adjudicating matters through video conferencing makes it less time consuming and becomes easier to ascertain accurately what the situation is.
In this regard, Justice S. Vaidyanathan observed-
That, there are advantages in hearing cases through Whatsapp Video Call, and stated that it was less time-consuming. He also said it would be helpful to analyze the exact scenario of each case, so as to arrive at a definite conclusion, as was done in the case on hand.
Everything has its pros and cons. So is the case with ‘online courts’ in India. It might seem like the best and the possible way to develop and upgrade India’s legal system but there are a few negative impacts
Lawyers worry that cases that were scheduled to be heard during the lockdown period would further be delayed and this would give those accused of scams and financial misappropriations more time to meddle with the evidence.
However, the delay affects in both ways as some accused whose bail proceedings are pending will have to spend longer in custody. Non-urgent cases postponed in favour of more urgent matters in these times will also suffer delays of justice.
Even the confidentiality of court proceedings shall be at risk .The use of technology and various other software tools may possess some threats related to security and privacy of data.
After analyzing all the impacts of the online proceedings we can be assured that every crises brings us a new opportunity , an opportunity which helps us to grow and upgrade ourselves. In order to make the legal system stronger in India , it would be advisable to keep the option of e-filing and online proceedings available even when the Courts assumes normal work.
This will help the citizens, and the judges to get used to the procedure, and will also help us understand its flaws and rectify it.
References:
https://www.barandbench.com/columns/the-supreme-court-is-online
https://www.careerride.com/view/e-courts-merits-and-demerits 24272.aspx
https://www.onelegal.com/blog/7-ways-efiling-benefits-your-law-firm/
https://blog.ipleaders.in/future-virtual-courts-india-covid-19-crisis/