Supreme Court Judge Justice DY Chandrachud, who is the chairperson of the E-Committee of the Supreme Court, on Tuesday said that he is looking forward to the collaboration of law students with the prison authorities to create digital awareness among them.
Justice Chandrachud said that the E-Committee which looks at the implementation of the E-Court project in the country is developing a special programme for visually challenged court staff and judicial officers which is a very critical link to the accessibility initiatives.
“For our future plans, we have a special drive outreach calendar for the year 2022. In 2022, outreach programmes will cover 10 categories of stakeholders, including the public, litigants, and law students through their law schools, advocates, advocates clerk, police officials, and prison authorities. I do look forward, particularly to the collaboration of the students, with the prison authorities in the prisons, because that is really the area which is a weak link in the legal system in our country”, he said.
Justice Chandrachud, who was delivering his keynote address on the occasion of the digital distribution of e-certificates to the master trainers of the E-Committee, said that they are developing a special outreach programme for the marginalised section, women, LGBTQ, and people with disability.
“Justice Moushumi Bhattacharya of the Calcutta High Court has been preparing very comprehensively a module on the marginalised segment of the society and how we can use technology and the knowledge component of the E-Courts project to facilitate this particular initiative”, Justice Chandrachud said.
He said that three state judicial academies namely Delhi, Orissa, and Maharashtra are coordinating with the e-committee on creating video tutorials in regional languages to expand the reach of outreach programmes.
“I will soon be writing to all the High Courts with the e-Committee calendars of 2022 and request all High Court to inject two E-Court programmes per month in their training programmes through the state judicial academies, to accelerate the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) awareness, digital awareness and capacity building", he said.
Justice Chandrachud added, “We are conscious of the regular calendar of each academy and training may be shifted from the conventional model and instead can be held in 30-40 minute session during the working days so as to bring about minimum dislocation in the conventional training programmes. So all in all, we hope that these special drive outreach programmes of the e-Committee will accelerate to achieve 100 percent digital literacy amongst all the stakeholders”.
At the outset, he said that with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the help of digital infrastructure created through the E-courts project, the courts immediately shifted to the digital space through video conference hearings, e-filing, e-payment, and virtual court hearings.
“A serious need was felt to take advocates on record, as there existed a great digital divide and a great amount of digital illiteracy. It all actually started, in the meeting of E-Committee which was held on July 3, 2020, as Attorney General KK Venugopal suggested the need for imparting training for advocates on basic digital usage and e-court services”, he said.
He added that based on the suggestions of Venugopal, the E-committee passionately formulated a special drive for training advocates and their clerks, which was a first of its kind.
“I must compliment member human resources, who have done this work with a tremendous amount of inspiration and dedication. Two significant steps were taken by the E-Committee. First creating advocate master trainers for Taluk, district, and state bar associations across India, and second creating awareness programmes for advocate and advocate clerks in the regional languages across India. Because, we do believe in the E-Committee that our mission would not be complete unless we get these important stakeholders on board”, he said.
Justice Chandrachud said that he has received representation recently from across the country including from his own parent High Court which is Bombay High Court because there is a feeling on the part of advocates clerks that with this march of technology, they will be rendered obsolete.
“Now, as we know, the advocate's clerk depends on the court system for earning their livelihood. This is really a humanitarian issue at stake and I do believe that if we help them learn alternative skills, some supplementary skills, or new skills they can become able contributors in the E-courts project and can continue to do what they are doing and perhaps improve their productivity and revenue-generating capacity also. Because unless we get the advocate's clerk on board as much as the advocates, I do believe that they will come up against a roadblock”, he said.
Justice Chandrachud said that the next step which is very crucial is to impart training to law students in law school and colleges on digital literacy so that they become comfortable with the use of technology.
He distributed digitally signed e-certificates to 4050 advocates, 394 judicial officers, and 421 staff members, who are master trainers.
