Parliament Question: Digital infrastructure in district courts

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1544 ANSWERED ON - 12/02/2026 DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE IN DISTRICT COURTS 1544. Shri Masthan Rao Yadav Beedha: Will the Minister of Law and Justice be pleased to state: (a) the schemes and initiatives undertaken during the last five years to strengthen digital infrastructure and e-governance in district courts across the country; (b) the district courts covered and proposed to be covered under these initiatives, State-wise; (c) the district courts yet to be covered or under process in Andhra Pradesh, district-wise particularly in Nellore district; and (d) whether training and capacity-building programmes have been conducted for judicial officers and court staff for effective use of digital infrastructure and if so, the details thereof? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE; AND MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (SHRI ARJUN RAM MEGHWAL) (a): The e-Courts Mission Mode Project is being implemented in a phased manner with the objective of strengthening the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the judicial system. Phase II (2015 – 2023), having financial outlay of Rs. 1670 crore, focused on ICT facilitation of judicial services to citizens. The components under Phase II included computer hardware, computerization of District and State Legal Services Authorities, Wide Area Network (WAN) connectivity, trainings of stakeholders, establishment of eSewa Kendra, Case Information System (CIS) software and National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG). Systems for digital filing and payments were developed in this phase, which revolutionized the way public accessed the services provided by the judiciary. 1Phase III (2023 – 2027), having a financial outlay of Rs. 7,210 crore, envisions transforming Indian courts into digital and paperless courts by digitizing legacy and current case records, expanding video conferencing to all courts, jails, and selected hospitals, extending online courts beyond traffic violations and strengthening e-filing and e-payments systems. Some key initiatives under the eCourts Project as on 31.12.2025 are as under: (i) Over 637.85 crore pages of court records including legacy records have been digitized across Courts to ensure faster retrieval, secure storage and seamless digital workflows. (ii) 29 Virtual Courts have been established to enable online adjudication of traffic challans. Virtual Courts have received 9.81 crore challans, out of which 8.74 crore were disposed and 94.55 lakh challans were paid amounting to Rs. 973.32 crore. (iii) Video Conferencing (VC) facilities have been expanded across 3,240 court complexes and 1,272 jails. Courts have conducted over 3.93 crore hearings through video conferencing, facilitating remote hearings of undertrials, witnesses and lawyers. (iv) Live streaming of court proceeding is operational in 11 High Courts. (v) E-filing and e-payments systems have been implemented to allow online filing of cases and digital payment of court fees and fines. Approximately 1.03 crore cases have been filed through the e-filing platform and the e-payments system has processed transactions for court-fee worth Rs. 1,234 crore and fine worth Rs. 63 crore. (vi) National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) provides public access to case data, statistics of courts across the country and has been upgraded with an improved dashboard, functioning as a monitoring tool, to identify, manage & reduce pendency of cases. (vii) CIS 4.0 has been implemented in all courts, with enhanced usability, privacy safeguards and integration with national platforms such as NJDG, e-filing, virtual courts and ICJS. (viii) The S3WaaS platform hosts 730 District Court websites, ensuring secure and accessible web infrastructure. (ix) Real-time digital services have expanded significantly, with 35 lakh daily hits on the e- Courts portal and more than 3 crore SMSes and more than 1 crore emails were issued in December 2025. (x) The e-Courts Services mobile app (3.5 crore downloads) provides the lawyers and litigants relevant information about case status, cause lists etc. (xi) The JustIS app (22,090 downloads) is a management tool for the judges assisting them to effectively organise and monitor their judicial business. 2(xii) 48 e-Sewa Kendras are functional across all High Courts and 2283 e-Sewa Kendras across District Courts. (xiii) The National Service and Tracking of Electronics Processes (NSTEP) system has been implemented for electronic service and tracking of summons and notices using mobile- based and GPS-enabled delivery mechanisms. Under NSTEP, the courts have processed 6.21 crore e-processes, out of which 1.61 crore e-processes have been successfully delivered. (xiv) Digital Courts 2.1 is a customized application for paperless Courts with facility of translation and transcription using AI. It enables judges to access all case related documents, pleadings, and evidence digitally, marking a significant leap toward a paperless court ecosystem. (b): Under the eCourts Project, all district and subordinate courts across the country are covered in a phased manner. Implementation is carried out by the respective High Courts, based on local requirements and readiness. The details of courts covered under the eCourts project, state-wise is at Annexure-I. (c): In the State of Andhra Pradesh, the eCourts project is being implemented under the guidance of the Andhra Pradesh High Court in all district and subordinate courts. A total of 649 courts in the State of Andhra Pradesh are covered under the eCourts project, including 40 courts in Nellore District. (d): Comprehensive training and capacity building measures are in place to ensure effective utilisation of digital platforms and technologies under the eCourts Project. The trainings follow a six-tier national, state, and regional model, ensuring uniform digital readiness across the system. The e-Committee, Supreme Court of India has conducted 966 training programmes and has trained 3.22 lakh stakeholders, including judges, litigants, advocates and court staffs. *** 3Annexure- I STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY OF RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1544 FOR 12.02.2026 REGARDING DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE IN DISTRICT COURTS Details of courts covered under the e-Courts Project, state-wise: S. No. States/UTs No. of courts under eCourts 1. Andaman and Nicobar 9 2. Andhra Pradesh 649 3. Arunachal Pradesh 20 4. Assam 416 5. Bihar 2065 6. Chandigarh 29 7. Chhattisgarh 462 8. Dadar and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu 8 9. Delhi 712 10. Goa 65 11. Gujarat 1103 12. Haryana 485 13. Himachal Pradesh 147 14. Jammu and Kashmir 247 15. Jharkhand 555 16. Karnataka 1122 17. Kerala 590 18. Ladakh 9 19. Lakshadweep 3 20. Madhya Pradesh 1828 21. Maharashtra 2288 22. Manipur 47 23. Meghalaya 66 24. Mizoram 41 25. Nagaland 26 26. Odisha 699 27. Puducherry 35 28. Punjab 655 29. Rajasthan 1603 30. Sikkim 42 31. Tamil Nadu 1317 32. Telangana 570 33. Tripura 90 34. Uttar Pradesh 3321 435. Uttarakhand 266 36. West Bengal 821 Total 22,411 (Source: NJDG portal as on 09.02.2026) 5