Context: Recently, while dealing with issues arising in connection with the CoWIN portal, the Supreme Court pointed out some of the major impediments in the delivery of vaccines to the people at large.

There were many digital impediments in the delivery of the vaccines. These include:

• Inadequate digital literacy across the country
• Inadequate digital penetration
• Issues of bandwidth and connectivity

Pandemic exposed the e-courts project to the outer world. Digitization enabled the Judiciary to respond the online world. However, many challenges also surfaced which need careful consideration.

• The Supreme Court introduced the system of e-filing and artificial intelligence-enabled referencing. This effort is not just to counter pandemic, it also seeks to improve efficiency and transparency to tackle judicial pendency. It also seeks to make it cost-effective and reachable for all the litigants.

Challenges in e-Courts project

• What the Judiciary said about the delivery of Vaccines is equally true about Justice. It is true that Judiciary rose to the challenge posed by Covid 19 and adopted electronic mode at a great pace.
• However, one should understand that the technology alone should not be seen as a panacea that will completely cure the Judiciary:
• Experience shows that despite digitization of Judiciary, from Phase 1 of eCourts since 2007, the current performance of Judiciary during pandemic left a lot to be desired.
• In fact, pendency reached an all-time high and rose sharply by 18% between December 2019 and December 2020.
• During the same period, High courts witnessed an increase in pendency by 20%.

Issues Associated With Digital Solution to Judiciary

• Not a Panacea: Deployed with adequate data-based planning and safeguards, technological tools can be a game changer.
• However, technology is not per se value-neutral — that is, it is not immune to biases — and therefore, it must be properly evaluated to see whether it works to increase the power imbalance between citizens and the state or whether it affirms and furthers citizens’ rights.
• Maintaining e-courts Record: The paralegal staff is not well equipped and trained to effectively handle document or record evidence, and make them readily accessible to the litigant, to the council as well as to the court.

Hacking and Cybersecurity: On the top of technology, cyber-security will be a huge concern too. The government has initiated remedial steps to address this problem and formulated the Cyber Security Strategy. However, the practical and actual implementation of the same remains a challenge.

• Lawyers in semi-urban and rural districts find online hearings challenging, mostly due to connectivity issues and an unfamiliarity with this way of working.
• Other issues might involve the litigant’s lack of confidence in the process due to lack of proximity.
• It is must to keep in mind that there will always be an inherent resistance to change to all stakeholders, whether for good or bad.

Suggestion
Based on our experience of performance during the pandemic, India should adopt an evidence-based rational approach.

• First, India should focus on filling vacancies that are reported to be as high as 38% in Higher Courts and 22% in lower courts by India Justice Report 2020. Like doctors, even Judges cannot be replaced by bots of technology.
• Second, given the digital divide, it should not further accentuate the power divide between the citizens.
• Third, the shortage of technical infrastructure at times is slowing the procedure and access to justice. This needs to be immediately rectified.
• Fourth, Just like vaccination procedure was adopted after rigorous trials, judicial procedures should also have to be subject to trials.

By: Shubham Tiwari