PIB Tracker753 crore pages later, the courts have gone digital
The e-Courts Mission has taken filings and disposals to nearly three times their 2014 levels, put 4.18 crore hearings on video, and wired courts to police, prisons and forensic labs — while the pendency problem it was meant to solve remains.
What happened
- A backgrounder set out the e-Courts Mission Mode Project, launched in 2007 and now in Phase III (2023–2027).
- Over 753 crore pages of court records have been digitised.
- Filings and disposals have nearly tripled since 2014, with disposals exceeding filings each year.
- Courts have held over 4.18 crore remote hearings; 11 High Courts livestream proceedings.
- All High Courts have implemented the Interoperable Criminal Justice System (ICJS).
For Prelims
- e-Courts Mission Mode Project: launched 2007. Phase I 2011–2015, Phase II 2015–2023, Phase III 2023–2027.
- NJDG: the National Judicial Data Grid — a public dashboard with separate views for the Supreme Court, High Courts and District Courts.
- e-Sewa Kendra: a physical help desk providing digital court services; 1,806 are functional.
- NSTEP: National Service and Tracking of Electronic Processes — in 6,895 courts.
- ICJS: the Interoperable Criminal Justice System linking courts, police, prisons, forensics and prosecution.
- Nyaya Shruti: launched 2024 under ICJS for virtual testimony by the accused, witnesses and experts.
- e-Sakshya: the app for capturing and preserving digital evidence; MedLEaPR handles medico-legal and postmortem reporting.
- Virtual Courts: 31 established for traffic challans — 11.33 crore challans worth ₹1,135.79 crore.
For UPSC: The reference card for judicial reform. Use it for access to justice and the digital divide, pendency and judicial data, technology in the criminal justice chain, and the privacy questions that follow interoperable police-court databases.
What it is NOT: Digitisation is a process reform, not a pendency solution — none of these figures speak to vacancies in the sanctioned strength of judges, which is the binding constraint on disposal.
For Mains
Syllabus: GS2.6 · GS2.15 · Linkage L1
Anchor
The courts have been rewired faster than they have been staffed.
Substantiation (data)
753 crore pages digitised, 4.18 crore remote hearings, 1.25 crore e-filed cases and ₹1,404 crore of court fees collected online.
Exemplification
31 virtual traffic courts have processed 11.33 crore challans worth ₹1,135.79 crore without a physical appearance.
Problematisation
Interoperability across police, prisons and forensics concentrates personal data without a corresponding accountability architecture, and e-Sewa Kendras exist precisely because the digital divide has not closed.
Way-forward
Pair Phase III with judicial appointments, publish NJDG delay-cause data at court level, and legislate safeguards for ICJS data sharing.
Position
Justice delayed is not cured by being digitised — but it is at last made measurable.
Deploys into: Judiciary + e-governance (GS2.6, GS2.15) · access to justice and the digital divide, pendency and judicial data, and privacy in interoperable criminal-justice databases.
PIB Backgrounder · 2026-08-07 · PRID 2295880 · PIB source ↗