The Supreme Court has recently issued a notice on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) that seeks to enable advocates and litigants to inspect digitised judicial records of High Courts and other courts online. The bench, consisting of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, has asked for responses from the Union and Registrar Generals of all 25 High Courts.
The petitioner is requesting the following directions: (1) all High Courts and district courts should allow applicants and their lawyers to conduct e-inspections of digitised court records, both pending and disposed of, through the official court web portal or mobile application
(2) the said directions should align with ‘The Delhi High Court Rules for Electronic Inspection of Digitized Court Records, 2023’
(3) these directions should apply only to those eligible for physical inspections according to the respective court’s rules.
Moreover, the petitioner is seeking the implementation of a comprehensive digital case management system in High Courts and district courts. This system should ensure that digital records of district courts are interlinked or hyperlinked with the records of the High Court, facilitating easy access to case information at both inter-court and intra-court levels.
The matter is scheduled for further hearing in six weeks.
