NEW DELHI: Courts can reopen and resume functioning amid Covid-19 lockdown with many of them made video-conference compatible many years ago, said Justice Madan Lokur, former Supreme Court judge who, till last year, spearheaded the countrywide computerisation of courts as the judge-in-charge of the E-Committee of the apex court.

“Under the eCourts Project, all district courts were made video-conference compatible many years ago. Many district courts utilised the facility for routine remand and other jail related activities. Family courts used it for trials, including in cases where a party was abroad and couldn’t come to India for financial reasons,” Justice Lokur told TOI.

It’s not very difficult for the Supreme Court (SC) and 25 High Courts in the country to start full court operation learning from the “valuable experience” of the district courts where video-conferencing has been used somewhat extensively but no publicity has been given to this, Justice Lokur added.

“The SC must strengthen the base for the average district court litigant if it wants to make a difference and must learn lessons from the use of technology by these courts,” Justice Lokur said. Cosmetic and knee-jerk methods and photo-ops will attract attention for a few weeks and then die down, he noted, and added that the solution lies in the district courts and the SC recognising that before further ad hoc experimentation.

Under the present circumstances, the SC can curb rising pendency of cases by maximising operation of courts across India. Almost all of the 18,000 subordinate and district courts, the HCs and the SC have been computerised and judges have been connected to the National Judicial Data Grid with availability of other facilities such as electronic filing of cases and examining of witnesses through video-conferencing.

Former Law Secretary P K Malhotra , however, was cautious and said the situation created by Covid-19 is unprecedented and needs to be handled carefully. He stressed on the need for further capacity building of our judges and counsels to take full load of cases for hearing through video-conferencing. Malhotra told TOI that given the technological glitches in some areas, litigants may not have full faith in disposal of cases through video conference.

“This, by no stretch of imagination, means that technology should not be used to dispose of urgent cases like bail matters, cases relating to fundamental rights or such other matters which the court, on request of counsels, consider to be heard urgently,” the former Law secretary said, and observed that this can be reviewed after the shutdown period is over.

In the long run, he said, disposal of normal cases through video-conferencing by all courts will be a step in the right direction and will also help in expeditious disposal of cases and thus help in reducing pendency in the courts.

