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E-filing will bring court registry to lawyers’ chamber, make work simpler: CJI Bobde
He was speaking at an online demonstration of the new e-filing module which will be rolled out by the Supreme Court in the near future.
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E-filing of cases will effectively bring the court registry to the offices of lawyers and will make their work simpler and more efficient, Chief Justice of India (CJI) SA Bobde said on Friday.
He was speaking at an online demonstration of the new e-filing module which will be rolled out by the Supreme Court in the near future.
“E-filing has virtually brought the court registry into the chamber of advocates and nothing can be simpler once the steps are understood. E-filing will make the work simpler and more efficient,” Justice Bobde said.
E-filing, he said, received an impetus due to the Covid-19 lockdown which necessitated social distancing and there would be no looking back now.
“We will have to accept the present situation and change our mindset towards the way we look at court proceedings. Half the battle is won with the change of mindset. It is easy to learn but difficult to unlearn.”
The event was also attended by the chairperson of the e-committee, Justice DY Chandrachud who said that e-filing will enhance the rights of citizens to efficient justice delivery.
“We are conscious of the fact that not every lawyer has access to technology. As we age, so we become a little more diffident about the use of technology. So our solutions must factor this in order to ensure that we continue to be an inclusive institution and reach out to those who do not have access to technology,” he said.
Towards this end, the court registry will do “handholding” by engaging data entry operators who will take up the work of data entry and filing so that lawyers do not feel handicapped by the e-filing process, he said.
The new e-filing module which will be introduced for filing cases in the Supreme Court will provide personalized information to every advocate-on-record of cases which have been filed by them, their own list of cases, details of pleadings filed by them and pleadings filed by others in cases in which they appear.
The service will be available round the clock which would mean that a lawyer can file a case anytime of the day and any day irrespective of whether the registry is working or not.
“The mission is to provide facilities for inexpensive and effective access to justice. Rule of law must survive very strongly and operate at all times irrespective of coronavirus,” CJI Bobde said.
