Cuttack: Following encouraging results of the 10 Virtual Courts set up in the 1st phase, the High Court of Orissa has set up 10 more Virtual Courts in the 2nd phase in the districts of Angul, Dhenkanal, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Keonjhar, Kendrapara, Kandhamal at Phulbani, Mayurbhanj at Baripada, Nayagarh, Sundargarh.
The Virtual Courts were inaugurated in virtual mode by Dr. Justice S. Muralidhar, Chief Justice in the presence of Justice Subhasis Talapatra, Chairman of the I.T. & A.I. Committee and the Judges of the High Court of Orissa. Among others, Advocate General of Odisha, Judicial Officers, Government Officials and Advocates of the 10 districts attended the function.
Experience of the 10 Virtual Courts established in 1st phase
Video Conferencing facility for court hearings is a significant technological measure as it facilitates lawyers and litigants in remote places to appear before the Courts in virtual mode. A proposal for enabling the District Court lawyers to file their cases online and participate in hearing of cases before the High Court in virtual mode was placed by the High Court of Orissa before the Supreme Court of India on the judicial side. The proposal was approved by the Supreme Court in its order dated 14th December, 2022 in TP(C) No.2419 of 2019 (M/s. PLR Projects Pvt. Ltd. v. Mahanadi Coal Fields Ltd.). On 3rd February, 2023 the High Court of Orissa established dedicated Virtual Courts in 10 of the 30 Districts in the 1st phase namely, Sambalpur, Ganjam at Berhampur, Bhadrak, Kalahandi at Bhawanipatna, Khurda at Bhubaneswar, Bolangir, Koraput at Jeypore, Puri and Sundargarh at Rourkela. The CJI inaugurated the facility online. The District Courts in the 1st phase were chosen by taking into consideration their geographical location and the volume of cases filed in the High Court from the said Districts.
Since 3rd February, 2023 the Virtual Courts in said 10 Districts have been functioning with encouraging results. District Court lawyers and their clerks have, during this period, been imparted training in eFiling and virtual hearing of cases.
Virtual Courts in the 2nd phase
While the cases filed from the above 10 locations constituted 54% of the total pendency in High Court, the volume of filing from 10 other Districts of Angul, Dhenkanal, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Keonjhar, Kendrapara, Kandhamal at Phulbani, Mayurbhanj at Baripada, Nayagarh, Sundargarh constituted 34% of the total pendency.
Accordingly, the High Court has today inaugurated Virtual Courts in the said 10 further Districts in the 2nd phase.
Delivering the welcome address, Justice Subhasis Talapatra, the Chairman of the IT & AI Committee of the High Court said establishment of the Virtual Courts in the Districts is a stride forward in ensuring justice at the doorstep. He shared the statistics of the Virtual Courts established in the 1st phase and said it is an experimentation on the part of the High Court with the use of technology which will ultimately result in narrowing the gap and strengthening the open court system.
Speaking on the occasion Dr. S. Muralidhar, Chief Justice said setting up Virtual Courts in the Districts was mainly to improve access to justice for the people of Odisha. He said that apart from enabling the District Court lawyers to take part in filing and hearing of cases, the Virtual Courts will reduce costs to the litigants, increase efficiency and ensure speedy justice. The Chief Justice explained the two criteria on the basis of which Virtual Courts were established. He congratulated the employees of the High Court deployed in the back offices of the Virtual Courts for assisting the District Court lawyers in e-Filing cases and participating in virtual hearings. He said the Virtual Courts will accelerate the adaptation of technology in the judiciary in the country and that Odisha is leading the way in pay wide range of transformative steps in the Indian judiciary. The High Court’s vision was that all the Courts in Odisha would function in paperless mode and help in ensuring quality justice to the people of Odisha.
Dr. Justice Sanjeeb Kumar Panigrahi, Member of the IT & AI Committee of the High Court proposed the vote of thanks. He said the problem of accessibility due to distance and expenses will be resolved by the Virtual High Court.
A short video presentation of the Virtual High Courts was made after the inauguration. The Virtual High Court in the Districts would boost the participation of Advocates in judicial proceedings in the High Court of Orissa from anywhere in Odisha. With this the problems of long distance will be resolved as the High Court will be easily accessible to the litigants and Advocates in the remote corners of the State.