Context: Recently, Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud made this announcement. that the real-time data on Supreme Court case filings and dispositions is now accessible to the public through the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG).

• The National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) has gained significant attention for its role in revolutionizing the way judicial proceedings are managed in India.

Key Points

• NJDG is a national repository containing data on cases across Indian courts.

• The move is based on the ‘open data policy’ and involves daily updates to the NJDG.

• Users can easily access information on case institution, disposal, and pendency by type, year, stage, and quorum.

• This initiative promotes coordination, informed decision-making, and efficient resource allocation within the judiciary.

• Data available on the NJDG-SCI portal includes current pendency figures for civil and criminal cases, filings, and dispositions for the previous month.

• As of 2023, the Supreme Court has 64,854 registered and 15,490 unregistered pending cases.

• Pending cases involve various Bench configurations, including three-judge, five-judge, and nine-judge Benches.

• To expedite pending cases, Chief Justice Chandrachud plans to establish additional special three-judge Benches.

About National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG)

• The NJDG is a database of orders, judgments and case details of 18,735 District and subordinate Courts and High Courts created as an online platform under the eCourts Project.

• Data is updated on a near real-time basis by the connected District and Taluka courts. It provides data relating to judicial proceedings/decisions of all computerized district and subordinate courts of the country.

• All High Courts have also joined the NJDG through web services, providing easy access facility to the litigant public.

Features

• Aligned with the National Data Sharing and Accessibility Policy (NDSAP), NJDG provides an Open Application Programming Interface (API) to Central & State Governments.

• This API offers streamlined access to NJDG data using designated departmental IDs and access keys.

• This feature is intended for institutional litigants to evaluate and monitor cases, with plans to extend access to non-institutional litigants in the future.

Significance

• NJDG works as a monitoring tool to identify, manage & reduce pendency of cases.

• It helps to provide timely inputs for making policy decisions to reduce delays in disposing of cases and helps in reducing case pendency.

• It also facilitates better monitoring of court performance and systemic bottlenecks, and, thus, serves as an efficient resource management tool.

• To track cases related to land disputes, Land Records data of 26 States have been linked with NJDG.

International Recognition

• In the Ease of Doing Business report for 2018, the World Bank (WB) commended NJDG for its role in generating case management reports that facilitate contract enforcement.

• This recognition underscores NJDG's significance in improving the business environment.