Anurag Kumar
Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised the Supreme Court on Thursday for linking its case management data on pending and resolved cases to the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG), stating that the move would increase transparency in the judiciary and improve the country’s justice delivery system.
This is the first time that data on case disposition will be available with detailed charts and graphs on NJDG, a flagship initiative under the eCourts mission that previously only contained data pertaining to trial courts and high courts.
A Supreme Court press release stated, “Now we have all three levels of Indian judiciary on the NJDG portal…The Supreme Court of India’s case-related statistics, including institution, pendency and disposition of cases, case types, and year-by-year breakdown, are accessible at the press of a button.
“A commendable action by the Supreme Court and Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud ji. Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on X, formerly Twitter, that this use of technology will increase transparency and improve the justice delivery system in the nation.
As the court convened for the day, the CJI proclaimed to the lawyers in the courtroom and those connected online, “Today marks a historic event that will ensure the court’s work is transparent.”
On the Supreme Court’s website, monthly information regarding the total number of pending cases, disposition rates, and the number of pending cases before five-judge, seven-judge, and nine-judge benches was previously available. It lacked diagrams or charts depicting the length of time required to dispose of cases, along with comparable figures from previous years. Now, all citizens will have access to these data for research or any other purpose.
Currently, the Supreme Court has 64,989 registered cases (both civil and criminal) and 15,512 unregistered cases (where attorneys have yet to rectify filing defects). This will be a variable number that is periodically updated. In addition, the Supreme Court’s webpage on the NJDG portal will provide real-time data on the number of cases filed each month and the monthly disposition rate. Similarly, it will include information on the filing and disposition of cases by the highest court on an annual basis, in order to promote the highest court’s accountability.
While introducing how to navigate the data on NJDG, the CJI defended the judiciary against criticism over lengthy vacations by stating, “We have graphs to show the effect of vacations, as in July there were 5,500 cases disposed of compared to 3,500 cases instituted.”
The CJI stated that there were approximately 100 cases that had been outstanding in the highest court for more than 20 years (prior to the year 2000). “This gives the CJI a data tool to reorganize work so we can dispose of the oldest cases,” CJI Chandrachud said, adding that he will form special benches to handle these cases.
On the NJDG, any citizen can determine which cases have been resolved and which are still unresolved, as well as the nature of these pending cases, such as civil or criminal appeals, writ petitions, suo motu cases, contempt, transfer, or review petitions, etc.
The Supreme Court’s decision to upload its data to NJDG comes one day after the Union cabinet approved the infusion of 7,210 crore for the third phase of the eCourts mission, which is being led by the e-committee of the Supreme Court, which is presided by the CJI.
Under this phase, the government intends to digitize all court records, including legacy documents and pending cases, at an estimated cost of 2,038.40 crore for a total of approximately 3,108 billion documents. The initiative also includes the migration of the data storage facility in courts to cloud technology, providing 25 petabytes of cloud storage at a cost of approximately 1,205.20 crore.
The third phase aims to improve the digital infrastructure of courts by establishing 2,500 new modern, virtual-friendly courts, 1,150 virtual courts, and 4,400 eSewa kendras in all court complexes from which citizens who are not tech-savvy can access virtual courts and a variety of judicial services online, such as e-filing and e-payment of court fees.
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According to a press release from the Press Information Bureau, “The main objective of eCourts Phase-III is to create a unified technology platform for the judiciary, which will provide a seamless and paperless interface between the courts, litigants, and other stakeholders.”
