JAMMU: The J&K Judicial Academy in collaboration with the e-Committee, Supreme Court of India organized a one-day refresher programme (ECT-9-2024) for staff members of District Courts of twin UT of J&K and Ladakh at J&K Judicial Academy, Janipur.
The programme was organised under the patronage of Chief Justice, High Court of J&K and Ladakh, Justice N. Kotiswar Singh and guidance of Justice Sanjeev Kumar and other members of the Governing Committee for Judicial Academy.
The training programme was inaugurated by Justice Sanjeev Kumar, Chairman, Governing Committee for Judicial Academy in the presence of Mr. Anoop Sharma, Registrar Computer, High Court of J&K and Ladakh, who was the resource person in the day-long event.
Justice Sanjeev Kumar, in his inaugural address, observed that technology has proved a great accelerant in almost all aspects of human lives including the dispensation of justice. He noted that e-courts represent a more viable alternative to conventional courts, harnessing technology to expedite legal proceedings. He highlighted that Court staff forms the backbone of our judicial system and any shortcoming on their part adversely impacts a judge’s ability to deliver justice.
Elaborating further, Justice Kumar said that in J&K 15-16 courts are paperless now wherein entire records have been digitized but still we are facing difficulties because of certain issues faced by the staff in adapting to the new technology. He advised the participants to transform their mindset and switch over to the technology for larger benefit of society.
The Chairman further highlighted that e-Courts have the potential to revolutionize the administration of justice particularly for underprivileged and marginalized communities facing barriers to traditional court systems by reshaping access to justice and enhancing efficiency, transparency and fairness.
Director, J&K Judicial Academy, Y P Bourney, while presenting a welcome address, highlighted the core purpose and importance of the programme. He stated that the e-Courts Project was conceptualised based on the “National Policy and Action Plan for Implementation of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the Indian Judiciary-2005” submitted by the e-Committee of the Supreme Court of India.
The e-Courts National portal (ecourts.gov.in) was launched by the Chief Justice of India on 07th August 2013 which provides case status, daily cause list, cases filed, and cases registered through the CIS software. He emphasised the objectives, services and benefits of e-Courts. He stated that digitization has bridged the gap between the court and the litigant, ensuring justice not only at the doorstep of the citizens but at their fingertips.
The first technical session was conducted by Anoop Sharma, Registrar of Computer, who gave an introduction to the e-Courts Project. He acquainted the staff with various e-court initiatives and services including their role in the implementation of e-court services of CIS, NSTEP, Virtual Courts, e-filing, etc. He again briefed about the defacing and locking mechanism of the e-Court fee. The learned resource person also explained the procedure of digitization of Court Case Records and DMS and discussed the role and responsibilities of the staff.
Rajeev Gupta, Senior System Officer and Faheem Manzoor, System Officer jointly conducted the second technical session. They gave practical knowledge of various tools and gave live demonstrations on CIS, NSTEP, Virtual Courts, e-filling and other e-court services. All the sessions remained very interactive during which the participants actively participated and shared their experiences, and difficulties and also discussed various aspects of the subject topics. They also raised several queries which the resource persons satisfactorily answered.
