Delhi high court to go paperless from next month

The Delhi high court is set to become the nation's first paperless 'e-court' by next month to facilitate speedy delivery of justice. This means, among other things, that all court files will now be recorded in an electronic format on computers, while all court records will now be stored on CDs.

The benefits will be almost futuristic - SMS alerts about court hearings to advocates and litigants, summons sent through emails, e-stamps instead of stamp paper, and recording of evidence through video-conferencing. Lawyers and litigants can stop carrying bulky files and start using a pen drive or a compact disc.

''The necessity of e-courts has arisen due to shortcomings of a paper-based system like storage, maintenance and wastage of a lot of paper,'' said Justice Badar Durez Ahmed Ahmed, in-charge of the e-court committee, during a presentation of the project to lawyers and judges on Thursday.

At present, about a third of the area of the Delhi high court is used for storage of files and other relevant documents.

A committee comprising Justices Ahmed, S Murlidhar, Anil Kumar and Rajiv Sahai Endlaw put the proposal into effect. The panel said it would not only be environment-friendly but would also help with the speedy delivery of justice. The concept will initially be utilised only for civil suits. So far, 5.56 crore pages of case files have been digitised.

Oral depositions would be recorded on audio-video devices and would be authenticated using digital signatures such as signature pads and fingerprints readers. Petitions would be filed through the internet or via e-kiosks on the court premises. E- filing would require digital authentication of affidavits, vakaltnamas, etc through biometric devices.