An NGO in Mumbai will be felicitated on Maharashtra Day for their presentation on the 'Transform Maharashtra' initiative started by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. The members of the group promoted the use of technology in courts for speedy trials through a model it has developed, and was selected by a jury in the special category.

Members of the Vaastav Foundation submitted their idea for the initiative under the theme 'Balancing the Scales: Expediting Justice through Technology', in which they proposed the use of technology in the judicial system to curb the use of paper as an eco-friendly move, and proposed to link Aadhaar and PAN cards of litigants with a history of cases to ensure vexatious petitioners are kept in check.

In its presentation, the group also insisted on filing the vakalatnama (document in writing, appointing a lawyer or pleader to represent a client in a court of law) online, to save the court's time by avoiding a separate hearing just for this purpose, and also advised that litigants should be informed about the case hearings and its status via e-mails and SMS.

"Our motive for the presentation was to bring this issue to the notice of the jury and the state government who can easily, with the help of a computer or mobile application, deliver speedy justice.The judiciary should accept means of technology like video conferencing for the court hearings, as it will save the time of all the parties involved in a case," said Hussein Ali, Secretary, Vaastav Foundation.

Amit Deshpande, Founder of Vaastav Foundation, said, "We will help the government implement these changes through a basic model we have developed, and this will change the entire process of the judicial system, which involves delays and lakhs of cases remaining unheard".

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