a. India has a multilevel court system  with high backlog of cases in courts. Cumbersome paperwork in the courts is one of the important reasons of delay in disposal of cases. Documents, pleadings, court fees, miscellaneous petitions and memos are filed physically, and some of them in duplicate. With the passing of the years, the case file accumulates with the petitions, memos, documents and their copies, citations of case laws etc. making it difficult to organize and requires more manpower and storage space. Due to the frequent handling of documents, they are also prone to damage and being misplaced. Moreover, the handwritten order sheets and depositions fade away with passage of time making them illegible and hard to decipher.

b. In appeals, case files become more voluminous with the addition of the lower Court’s records and much time is lost in requisitioning the lower Court’s records by the Appellate Courts. During the hearing, a judge and the court staff painstakingly deal with these voluminous records. Be it the disposed of cases or the pending cases, to keep the case files safely is a costly and cumbersome process. These practices result in billions of sheets of paper being wasted each year when efforts are being made in every sphere to preserve water and trees and to reduce the carbon footprint.

c. With the integration of technology in the court work management, the concept of “paperless courts’’ has been envisioned to address these issues and to provide speedy justice. A paperless court, as the name suggests, is a court that functions without the physical records, where judges rely on digitized court records and use technology for facilitating the court proceedings. A paperless court strives to modernize the work process of the judiciary by eliminating the need for physical records and the inherent liabilities associated with storage congestion, risk of misplacing, and retrieving documents. In a traditional court, case information is available to a judge through a case information system, but in a paperless court the entire case record is available to a judge in a portable device, making it convenient to access the relevant part of the record without browsing through the entire file, thereby saving time and making the workflow more efficient. It also reduces work pressure on court staff from organizing the record chronologically. The concept of paperless court also strives to lessen the amount of time consumed for obtaining copies of the documents as the physical movement of the case file is not required for the said purpose.

d. The transition from a traditional court to paperless court not only depends on digitization of existing case records but also adopting e-filing of new cases. The process of digitisation involves sending of case records as per cause list, pre- scanning procedure, scanning of case records, quality check of scanned pages, meta data entry, book marking of scanned pages under different heads for easy access and finally the integration of the scanned records with the cause list. The Courts in Odisha have adopted e-filing 3.0. The litigants and advocates can file the cases through e-filing 3.0 and the said cases shall be directly consumed by the Courts thereby obviating the need of physical filing. The e-filing module has integrated the payment of e court fees which is not only economical but also environment friendly.

e. There is also provision for serving summons through email to the defendants. The pre-trial procedures can be accelerated by utilizing the aforesaid paperless modes. Similarly, during trial the depositions of witnesses can be recorded in paperless mode and their signatures can be obtained digitally obviating the requirement of paper depositions. In paperless Courts it is very convenient for judges to have easy access to the bulky case records which are segregated in different parts and the relevant portions are available with a click on the book mark. The touch screen devices enable the judges to take down notes and highlight portions of the pleadings and evidence found to be relevant during the course of arguments which are of tremendous use while preparing orders/judgments.

The objectives of introduction of paperless courts are:

1. A transparent and speedy justice delivery system.

2. An easier file storage retrieval and movement system.

3. Instantaneous access to voluminous records and preparation of notes at the time of argument.

4. Faster mode for obtaining copies of orders and judgments.

5. Lastly, reducing wastage of millions of sheets of paper.

Paperless Courts in the Sub-ordinate Judiciary had started functioning during the year 2022 with introduction of the System in 34 Courts in various Judgeships under Phase-I. The Paperless Courts System in Odisha saw exponential growth during the year 2023 with 212 numbers of Sub-ordinate Courts across all Judgeships of the State becoming Paperless Courts, thereby bringing the total count to 246 Paperless Courts in the Sub-ordinate Judiciary as on 31st Dec, 2023. The inauguration of 212 Paperless Courts during 2023 was carried out phase-wise as detailed hereunder:

The concept of paperless court has been successfully implemented in the Supreme Court and different High Courts including the High Court of Orissa. However, launching of paperless courts in all the districts in Odisha is a first in the country.

2. Paperless Benches in High Court of Orissa

• Taking the relevant aspects of paperless mode of functioning into consideration, the Hon’ble Court have commenced the system of Paperless Courts since 11.09.2021 when the Court of Hon’ble the Chief Justice was inaugurated as the 1st and only Paperless Court in the High of Orissa.

• In due course, more and more number of Benches of the High Court have gone paperless. By the end of 2023, a total of 15 Benches have adopted the Paperless Court System. Hence, at present more than fifty percent of the total strength of Hon’ble Judges of the Court are functioning in paperless mode with scope for extension to all the benches of the Hon’ble Court.

3. Scanning & Digitization of Legacy Records of the High Court of Orissa at Record Room Digitization Centre (RRDC).

• The state-of-the-art Record Room Digitization Centre (RRDC) of the High Court of Orissa was established and subsequently inaugurated on 11.09.2021 by Hon’ble Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, Judge, Supreme Court of India and Chairperson, e-Committee. The Centre is considered to be an innovative and pioneering project in the country in the field of judicial record keeping and digitization.

• Ever since its inception, the RRDC has facilitated tremendous progress in digitizing the legacy records of the Court. As on 31.12.2023, a total of 9,61,490 number of case records amounting to 3,02,31,314 number of pages have been digitized (i.e., uploaded to Server) out of which 8,49,604 number of case records have already been shredded after following applicable Rules and Guidelines.

The statistical snapshot of the work completed at RRDC as on 31.12.2023 is as hereunder: CUMULATIVE STATUS REPORT OF SCANNING & DIGITIZATION AT R.R.D.C. (as on 31.12.2023)

* – includes some case records scanned earlier
The Record Room Digitization Centre (RRDC) was inaugurated on 11.09.2021

4. Scanning & Digitization in the District Court Digitization Hubs (DCDHs)

A total of 14 numbers of District Court Digitization Hubs (DCDHs) were established and inaugurated during 2021 and 2022 with a vision to digitize the legacy records of all 30 Judgeships of Odisha. In due course of time, these Hubs have gained rapid pace towards digitizing the District Record Rooms across the State.

However, it was only during the year 2023 when a DCDH actually undertaking the responsibility of digitizing the legacy records of a neigbouring Judgeship was witnessed. Some of these Hubs, after completing the digitization of their own District Record Room, have already commenced digitization of other Judgeships as detailed hereunder

DCDH, Cuttack is scheduled to digitize Puri Judgeship soon after case records of Jagatsinghpur are digitized. However, the Hon’ble Court have decided to establish a new Digitization Centre at Bhubaneswar to cater to the digitization needs of Khordha Judgeship, instead of carrying out such works at DCDH, Cuttack as planned earlier. It has been decided to establish the said Digitization Centre in a portion of the existing Old Court Building at Bhubaneswar soon after the New Court Building is inaugurated.

As on 31.12.2023, the following digitization works have been completed in the 14 DCDHs across the State as indicated hereunder:

5. Virtual Courts of the High Court in 29 Judgeships

Proposal for Virtual Court in the Districts was placed before the Supreme Court of India on judicial side and was approved by the Supreme Court in order dated 14th December, 2022 in TP(C) No.2419 of 2019 M/s. PLR Projects Pvt. Ltd. Vrs. Mahanadi Coal Fields Ltd. and others.

Accordingly, the High Court of Orissa has established a total of 30 numbers of Virtual Courts in 29 Judgeships of the State (with the exception of Cuttack Judgeship) which were inaugurated in three different phases as follows:

Accordingly, the High Court of Orissa has now decided to take a step forward to establish dedicated Virtual Courts in 10 of the 30 Districts in the first phase. These are at Sambalpur, Ganjam at Berhampur, Bhadrak, Kalahandi at Bhawanipatna, Khurda at Bhubaneswar, Bolangir, Koraput at Jeypore, Puri and Sundargarh at Rourkela. The choice of the first 10 Virtual Courts was dictated by the geographical location and the volume of cases filed from the Districts in the High Court.

The Virtual Courts at Sambalpur, Bolangir, Sundergarh at Rourkela are in Western Odisha, Kalahandi at Bhawanipatna, Koraput at Jeypore and Ganjam at Berhampur in Southern Odisha, Balasore and Bhadrak in Northern Odisha, and Khurda at Bhubaneswar and Puri are in Eastern Odisha.

These Virtual Centres will have video conferencing facilities, and importantly, a ‘Back Office’ where it will be possible for lawyers to e-file their cases with assistance from staff/ officer dedicated for that purpose. Advocates or parties in person not familiar with computers can hand over the hard copy of the petition to the staff at the Back Office who will then scan and prepare and e-file the petition. The following services will be available through digital mode in these Virtual Centres:

• Scrutiny of e-filed cases and removal of defects;

• Numbering of the cases

• Listing of cases including mentioning before the High Court in virtual mode.

• Submission of application for and issuance of certified copies of the orders and judgments.

These facilities are in addition to and not in substitution of any of the facilities for lawyers and litigants.

Delivering the inaugural address Chief Justice of India Dr. D.Y. Chandrachud said that the Virtual Court in Districts will ensure decentralization of administration of justice and ensure accessibility of the High Court to the Advocates of remote Districts. He added talent has no geographical boundaries and videoconferencing facility in the Virtual Courts will give exposure to the legal talents of the smaller cities who often find it difficult to practise in the High Court due to lack of accessibility.

6. Inauguration of e-Libraries for the 24 Bar Associations in 24 different outlying stations in the State of Odisha

Since last two years the High Court of Orissa has been endeavouring to reach out to the people who are in need of justice. Providing e-Libraries to the Bar Associations of districts and outlying stations is one of the many initiatives undertaken by the High Court of Orissa to strengthen the justice delivery system. e Libraries enable the lawyers to have access to various decisions and books readily available to them digitally. It helps in easy information retrieval. The user can easily search the desired information by using any search term. The e-Library for the lawyers is more beneficial to the young lawyers as they are relatively new to the profession and might not be having sufficient resources to subscribe to many journals and books. The digital contents can be updated without having to purchase any additional physical book. It has advantage over traditional libraries in terms of space. Digital libraries can hold much data in very little physical space. Use of digital libraries is cost effective compared to physical libraries.

Dr. S. Muralidhar, Chief Justice, High Court of Orissa highlighted the objectives of providing e-Libraries to the Bar in the Districts and outlying stations. Chief Justice said the idea is to uplift the level of the Bar across the State and to facilitate young lawyers for legal research. He said lack of means to have books would not be a constraint for legal research for young lawyers even in remote places. He added Bar is nursery to young Judges and by strengthening the Bar ultimately the judiciary will be strengthened. The Chief Justice announced that online services of AIR and Manupatrafast.in and the CD ROM version of Orissa Law Times are being provided to the e-Libraries apart from the link e-SCR of the Supreme Court of India where all the Judgments of the Supreme Court would be available.

Delivering the keynote address Justice K.M. Joseph highlighted the duties involved in legal profession referring to the constitutional provisions and ethics. Justice Joseph said the Bar should be in a position to deliver on the promise of the Constitution to serve the people. He added that acquisition of a law degree is not merely a means to earn livelihood but a humble beginning for an arduous and never ending quest of knowledge. Justice Joseph further said he considered the legal profession to be the greatest. It had the potential to make or mar the lives of countrymen. He said a lawyer is required to observe professional ethics and provide the best possible service to the litigants for which learning is of pivotal importance. Justice Joseph said a lawyer cannot afford to be ignorant of law and rather should be a perpetual student of law. He said the people of the country have the right to expect that their lives and properties are safe in the hands of lawyers. Stressing upon the importance of language in legal profession Justice Joseph urged the young lawyers to be familiar with the judgments of the High Courts and Supreme Court and to read not only law but also literature.

On 20th February, 2023 e-Libraries for the Bar Associations of 24 outlying stations of Odisha were inaugurated by Justice K.M. Joseph, Judge, Supreme Court of India in virtual mode. Dr. Justice S. Muralidhar, Chief Justice and Judges of High Court of Orissa were present on the occasion. The District Judges, Judicial Officers and Office Bearers of the Bar Associations of the respective Districts virtually attended the event.

Last year on 23rd March, the High Court of Orissa inaugurated 30 e-Libraries for the Bar of all the District Headquarters stations and 2 for the outlying stations at Koraput and Rourkela. Those Bar members have been immensely benefited from the facility.

7. e-Inspection facility for the members of the High Court Bar Association.

To facilitate the bar members for inspection of records, e-Inspection facility was launched on 29.03.2023 by Dr. Justice S. Muralidhar, Chief Justice in presence of the Judges of High Court of Orissa and other Dignitaries. As per the prevailing practice, application for inspection is filed before the Additional Deputy Registrar under rules contained in Chapter-XXIII of the Rules of the High Court of Orissa, 1948 and the applicant has to wait for considerable time for arrival of the physical record. After digitization, the records are available in softcopies. Through e inspection facility the Bar members can apply online for inspection and once approved will be able to see the softcopy of record in a dedicated computer system within minutes without having to wait for the physical record.

Speaking on the occasion Justice Subhasis Talapatra said the lawyers will be immensely benefitted by the two new facilities and urged the lawyers to use the Wi-Fi facility for research work. He informed the Bar members that the High Court would be taking up the task of making the High Court judgments available for the lawyers through a search engine like the e-SCR of the Supreme Court of India.

Learned Advocates can apply online for inspection of case records by visiting the urlhttp://112.133.226.244/einspection/. Once the application gets approved, digitized copy of the case records can be verified.

8. Free Wi-Fi facility

‘Free Wi-Fi facility’ was launched by Dr. Justice S. Muralidhar, Chief Justice in presence of the Judges of High Court of Orissa on 29th March, 2023. To make free Wi-Fi facility available for the bar members access points with provision of 100 MBPS dedicated internet lease line have been installed all over the High Court Campus including the bar association halls for seamless use by multiple users. The bar members will have to search for the advocate SSID in the device and click on it and enter the password to access the internet. The following websites dedicated to the Justice Delivery System can only be accessed through the Wi-Fi facility:

1. Website of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India
2. Website of the Hon’ble High Court of Orissa
3. Official District Court Websites
4. e-Filing Portal
5. e-Payment Website
6. Zoom Website
7. e-Courts Portal
8. OHC e-Services
9. Virtual Court Portal
10. NJDG Portal
11. Judgments Portal of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India / e-SCR
12. India Kanoon
13. Live Law
14. Manupatra
15. SSC Online

The litigants and other stakeholders visiting the Court can avail the said network through Wi-Fi and access vital case and Court related information in real time, which would ultimately ensure to their benefit and the interest of expeditious and efficacious delivery of justice.

9. National Conference on Digitization, Paperless Courts and e-Initiatives

To explore the possible ways of use of technology in the legal system a two days National Conference on Digitization, Paperless Courts and e-Initiatives was organized by the High Court of Orissa in the Odisha Judicial Academy, Cuttack on 6th and 7th May, 2023. Implementation of the Action Plan of Phase-III of e-Courts Project of the Supreme Court of India was the focal point of the Conference.

The Conference was inaugurated on 6th May, 2023 by Dr. Justice Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud, Chief Justice of India in the presence of Justice Rajesh Bindal, Judge, Supreme Court of India, Dr. Justice S. Muralidhar, Chief Justice, High Court of Orissa, Justice Bipin Sanghi, Chief Justice, High Court of Uttarakhand, Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan, Acting Chief Justice, High Court of Himachal Pradesh, the Judges of the High Court of Orissa and all other High Courts as well as the Judicial Officers representing all the States.

All the High Courts of the Country were participated in the Conference through their Judges and Judicial Officers. Besides, the delegates from the Department of Justice, Government of India and the e Committee, Supreme Court of India were also attended the Conference.

The “Neutral Citation for the Indian Judiciary” was inaugurated on the occasion by the Chief Justice of India. Neutral Citation System is an initiative of Dr. Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, aimed at evolving a mechanism for standardizing case law citations. Case law reporting is an integral part of the legal system and the lawyers and Judges rely on the law reports and legal websites to access case laws. Different law reports adopt different patterns to identify a case law which often leads to confusion.

Neutral Citation System is a uniform and secure methodology for identifying and citing decisions of the orders and judgments of the Supreme Court and High Courts. In this system each decision (reportable and non-reportable) of the Supreme Court and High Courts would have a citation of its own approved by the respective Court, independent of the Law Reports. The system will make it easier for Courts to publish the orders and judgments in public domain by providing a consistent method of citing judicial decisions which will facilitate easy identification, referencing and retrieval thereof. Case laws, which were so far accessible only to the subscription holders of private law reporters, would now be available to everyone free of cost through Neutral Citations.

Delivering the welcome address in the inaugural function Dr. Justice S. Muralidhar, Chief Justice, High Court of Orissa said the Conference is primarily aimed at discussing on how to implement the National Action Plan of Phase-III of e Courts Project. He said the ICT Initiatives like virtual hearing, live streaming, e Filing, Paperless Courts, digitization of case records etc. which gave fillip to the legal system after the Covid pandemic are no longer new and it’s time to effect completely transformation of judiciary.

Thanking the Union Government for the financial support for Phase-III of the e Courts Project Dr. Muralidhar stressed upon the need of discussing the road map for completion of the task. Expressing concern over the misuse of ICT tools he flagged the issue of data integrity and security and emphasized on framing of a Comprehensive Judicial Data Security Policy for protecting the confidential details of the citizens. He also stressed upon the need for the judiciary to build its own resources in the field of ICT instead of depending on the private agencies. Dr. Muralidhar said that training of Judicial Officers, Court staff, lawyers and their clerks on ICT Initiatives for real transformation.

Justice Rajesh Bindal, Judge, Supreme Court of India expressed concern that all the High Courts are not at same level in implementing the e-Courts Project and the ICT Initiatives which is creating an imbalance in the Pan India scenario. Justice Bindal said that non-utilization of the funds provided by the Government is a major hindrance in implementation of the Action Plan under e-Courts Project. Lauding the efforts of Dr. S. Muralidhar, Justice Bindal said that RRDC and Museum of Justice are the examples of how an effective leadership can change the scenario. He said while there are innumerable advantages of Artificial Intelligence and ICT, the growing misuse of the same is worrisome. Justice Bindal also harped on the need of training of the Judicial Officers, Court staff, lawyers and their clerks as well as the awareness of litigants and also emphasized on the use of e-SevaKendras and Process Re- Engineering.

Delivering the inaugural address Dr. Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, Chief Justice of India referred to the Record Room Digitization Centre and lauded the leadership of Chief Justice Dr. S. Muralidhar, in making the High Court of Orissa to be at the forefront of efforts to digitize and modernize the judiciary. Dr. Justice Chandrachud discussed on the vision of Phase III of the e-Courts Project and the work that needs to be done for building a modern judiciary. He said the vision of e-Courts Project has been to ensure the principles of affordability, accessibility, cost effectiveness, environmental sustainability and transparency.

The Chief Justice of India informed that there has been budgetary outlay of Rs.7210 crores in Phase-III to be spent over a 4-year period i.e. from 2023 to 2027 which is considerably higher than that of Phase-I and II. He urged all the High Courts to optimally utilize the funds and successfully build the infrastructure for Phase III. He emphasized on creating a robust digital infrastructure as well as appropriate physical infrastructure across all courts in India including the District Courts. Expressing concern over lack of usable facilities for women litigants and lawyers as well as for persons with disabilities in the District and Taluk Courts he urged the High Courts to take immediate action to provide adequate facilities across all courts.

Dr. Justice Chandrachud said that the judiciary would be moving to cloud storage for storing digitized court records, live streaming recordings, electronic evidence and establishing paperless courts which will ensure standardization of data security and privacy norms. He said that building trustworthy digital repositories is one of the primary focus areas of Phase III and this will involve digitization of the entire court records, both legacy records and pending cases.

In Phase III, he said, it is proposed to digitize 3108 crore pages because this is necessary in light of the physical storage constraints that are being faced across the country. He also emphasized on simultaneous shifting to e-filing along with digitization and ensuring that further physical output is not created which is not already digitized, and for this, a mechanism to preserve born-digital data has to be built that will be received through e-filing and through ICJS which will have FIRs and charge sheets. He said Digitization shall be crucial for preservation as well as for enabling paperless courts.

The Chief Justice of India urged the High Courts not to shut down the virtual or hybrid hearing facilities with the resumption of physical courts and said that the services of infrastructure already built with public money should not be kept away from the public. He also urged to reach out to citizens to spread awareness about all the services available under the e-courts services. Speaking on the road map of Phase-III of the e-Courts Project Dr. Justice Chandrachud emphasized on the role of e-SewaKendras and said that there should be continuous efforts to bridge the digital divide.

Extending vote of thanks Justice S. Talapatra, Judge, High Court of Orissa and Chairman of the IT & AI Committee thanked the Chief Justice of India to conceive this National Conference at the right time when the judiciary is in the anvil of the commencement of Phase-III of the e Courts Project which aims at building a futuristic judiciary.

The first session of the Conference was presided over by Dr. Justice D.Y. Chandrachud where presentations were made by e-Committee, Supreme Court of India and the Department of Justice, Government of India on phase-III of the e-Courts Project. In the following two sessions presided over by Justice Rajesh Bindal, the Judges of the High Courts of Calcutta, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Allahabad, Punjab & Haryana, Bombay, Chhatisgarh, Gauhati, Gujarat, Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, Jharkhand presented on how their High Courts have made use of technology in legal system and shared their experiences and challenges.

On the second day of the Conference Justice A.S. Bopanna and Justice Krishna Murari, Judges, Supreme Court of India will chair different sessions where the High Courts of Karnataka, Madras, Manipur, Patna, Rajasthan, Telengana, Tripura, Uttrakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Orissa, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi will made presentation on how technology has been used by their High Courts and their experiences and challenges. The High Courts of Orissa, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi will also be presenting their view points on the road map for the future. Dr. Dinesh Katre, Senior Director & HOD, Scientist-G, Co-Mission, Director-Digital Preservation C-DAC and VivekRaghaban, Chief AI Evangelist, Bangalore will also deliberate on the second and concluding day of the Conference.

Record Room Digitization Centre of the High Court of Orissa, which has been termed by the Chief Justice of India as a role model for the other High Courts in the field of digitization, was a talking point during the Conference. The Conference has been organized by the High Court of Orissa on the request made by the Chief Justice of India in the Chief Justices’ Conference held recently in the Supreme Court.

It was an occasion for the Judges of all the High Courts of the Country attending the Conference, to visit and study the process undertaken in Record Room Digitization Centre. The visiting Judges and Judicial Officers from across the Country were also fascinated to see how the centuries old judicial documents are being preserved in the Centre for Judicial Archives and those are being showcased in the Museum of Justice.

10. Online RTI Portal

Online RTI portal in the High Court of Orissa has been launched w.e.f. 26.04.2023 in compliance to the order dated 05.12.2022 passed by Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in Writ Petition (Civil) No. 1040/2019 in the matter of creation of online RTI portal in the High Courts.

Citizens can register themselves on the RTI Portal to obtain information under the RTI Act from the High Court of Orissa.

https://www.orissahighcourt.nic.in/onlinerti/

11. Online Mentioning Portal

The facility of online filing of Mention Memos in the High Court of Orissa was commenced with the launch of Online Mentioning Portal on 03.02.2023. Urgent matters can be mentioned through memo of urgency submitted through on line mode using the portal https://www.orissahighcourt.nic.in/onlinememo/.

12. Online Certified Copy

A portal for Online Certified Copy Application for the High Court of Orissa is launched on 01.05.2023. Advocates and litigants can apply for Certified Copies in the High Court of Orissa through online mode. The portal has been developed on the ServicePlus framework of NIC.

https://www.orissahighcourt.nic.in/onlinecertifiedcopy/

13. Digital Signature (DSC) in Orders and Judgments

With a view to ensuring timely access by lawyers and litigants to authenticated copies of the orders and judgments, digitally signed (DSC) orders and judgments are uploaded on the Court’s website w.e.f. from 24.04.2023. The orders and judgments of the High Court of Orissa are applied with Digital Signature (DSC) of the Secretarial Officers and staff of the Hon’ble Court for authenticity.

14. Establishment of a dedicated I.T. Cell of the High Court

A dedicated I.T. Cell has been established in the Old Building of the Court which was inaugurated on 21.07.2023 by Dr. Justice S. Muralidhar, Hon’ble the Chief Justice in presence of companion Judges of the Court. The I.T. Cell primarily houses the Chamber of the Central Project Co ordinator along with rooms for the following Staffs working under his direct control and supervision:

• Computer Section of the Court (Superintendent, Sr. System Officer, System Officers, Section Officers, A.S.O.s, Programmer and System Assistants)

• NIC Centre of the Court (Sr. Director (IT) and Joint Director (IT) with support staff)

• Cause List Preparation staff (Type Supdt. Level-I & II, Sr. & Jr. Grade Typists)

• System Admins (Software Development Team; Hardware Tech. Support)

• Outsourced Technical Personnel (VC Coordinators/Live Streaming support)

The Chamber of the CPC is also fully equipped with VC equipments and Conference Table (with seating capacity for 10-12 people) for conducting VC meetings as and when required.

15. Warrant Management System (WMS)

With a view to expeditious transmission and execution of warrants, ‘Warrant Management System (WMS)’, an online platform has been tested on pilot basis at the Judgeship of Cuttack for issuing warrants to the Police and tracking the execution status of the same starting from 24.04.2023.

The Warrant Management System (WMS) has been developed and implemented in coordination between the State Crime Records Bureau, Odisha (SCRB) and the Hon’ble High Court of Orissa. This portal has the facility of issuing warrants, tracking status of execution, acknowledgement of warrant execution.

h t t p s : // w m s . o d i s h a . g o v . i n / WarrantManagement/_layouts/Login.aspx

16. Implementation of SUVAS:

Supreme Court VidhikAnuvaad Software (SUVAS), an AI-powered tool for translating legal documents from English into vernacular languages. Several vernacular languages have been incorporated in SUVAS AI tool and Odia is one of the supported languages. The High Court of Orissa Translation cell has been established in the moth of February,2023 for translation of Supreme Court Judgments in Odia language with the help of SUVAS AI tool. With the guidance and technical assistance from the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India, the translation cell is working in AI tools for translation of the Supreme Court Judgments into Odia language.

17. National Service and Tracking of Electronic Processes (NSTEP)

Summonses and notices served in court are essential legal documents used to notify individuals or parties about legal proceedings.

The traditional method of serving summonses and notices in court typically involves a series of formal steps designed to ensure that the recipients are informed of their legal obligations and that causes delay in court proceedings, to avoid such issues the Hon’ble eCommittee Supreme Court of India envisage the National service of National Service and Tracking of Electronic Processes (NSTEP) an application for electronic generation, issuance of processes and tracking of its service. This software has been implemented in all District Courts across the state. The High Court of Orissa has procured 879 numbers of smartphones for the process servers of district judiciary.

The Hon’ble Court’s Technical Team also prepared the templates of summons, notices in Odia language and integrated in the Case Information System for use in NSTEP application.

The Hon’ble High Court has implemented standard operating procedure (SOP) for smartphone devices to increase operational efficiency.

The Technical Team of the Hon’ble Court have developed an application For distribution and effective management of Process Servers, Smartphones, IMEI Numbers, SIM Cards, Mobile Service Providers, a centralized portal has been created. Login credentials have been provided to al District Courts to regularly update data smooth tracking of process servers working and assigned smartphone details.

The District Admin, Process Admin, Process Servers and other Staff of the District Judiciary dealing with NSTEP provided regular training for smooth implementation of NSTEP.

NSTEP is another innovative application launched as part of the eCourts Project.

It is a transparent and secure system for transmission of process from one location to another and will address delays in process. NSTEP will lead to secured auto generation of processes with unique QR Code through CIS, publishing processes on portal and transmission of processes to other court complexes.

NSTEP Mobile App provided to bailiffs and process servers enable transparent tracking of service of notices and summons in realtime. Once the process is adopted through CIS software by the respective courts, it will become available on the NSTEP web application in the electronic format. NSTEP web application enables allocation of published processes to bailiffs if service is to be effected within their jurisdiction. It also facilitates allocation of published processes to respective court establishments inter-district or inter-state.

The bailiffs can view the allocated processes on the NSTEP Mobile App. The Android smart phones are being provided to bailiffs which are integrated with the court’s service modules. The Bailiffs can capture GPS location, photo of the receiver and the data captured is instantly communicated to the central NSTEP application. From NSTEP web application data is then sent forward to CIS enabling courts to track the status of service. NSTEP was launched in all 30 districts of the State on 30th September 2023.

18. Migration of District Court Websites to S3WaaS

S3WaaS is a cloud service developed for government entities to generate Secure, Scalable &Sugamya (Accessible) websites. Websites of all the District Courts of the State are now live on S3WaaS platform enabling the District Judiciary to customize and manage the content easily and maintain their online presence. All the data present in the previous websites have been migrated to newly built S3WaaS websites which are now GIGW Compliant, Responsive Designed for easy access through Smart Phones, Tablets and Desktop PCs.

District Court websites of the State of Odisha have been migrated to S3WaaS platform which is a cloud service developed for government entities to generate Secure, Scalable &Sugamya (Accessible) websites. It enables government entities to choose from various themes for generating websites as well as customizing and managing the content easily, thus empowering them to maintain their online presence.

Through the help of the district Judges and technical teams in the district courts, all the data present in the previous websites have been migrated to newly built S3WaaS websites which are now GIGW Compliant thus making them more secure. The new websites are more Responsive and Designed for easy access through Smart Phones, Tablets and Desktop PCs and was launched on 30th September 2023.

19. Public Interest Litigation (PIL) Portal

Public Interest Litigation (PIL), since the late 1970s when it commenced in the Supreme Court and the High Courts, has become a prominent feature of the functioning of the Constitutional courts in our country. Among the standout features of this type of litigation is that it is intended to ensure access to justice to those who, as a result of tangible and intangible barriers, are unable to espouse their causes themselves. This explains the facets of PIL being non-adversarial, having relaxed rules of standing, the Court appointing Commissioners to gather facts or give expert advice in the form of reports, and most importantly, the Court using the device of a ‘continuing mandamus’ to continue to monitor the implementation of its orders over a period of time.

The High Court of Orissa has its fair share of PILs on a range of issues including protection of the environment, management of prisons, manual scavenging, health, public accountability of institutions and so on. Some prominent cases have continued over the years, with the High Court monitoring the implementation of its orders through the device of the ‘continuing mandamus’.

A PIL Portal was launched by the High Court of Orissa on 7th August, 2023. The purpose of this Portal is to disseminate information on a few of the significant pending PILs that have engaged the attention of the High Court of Orissa. Apart from a brief description of the case, the portal intends to make accessible all the orders in that particular case. Since some of these proceedings have been live streamed since August 2021, the links to the hearings are also provided. A person intending to file a PIL afresh in the High Court of Orissa might want to first check on this portal if there is a matter already pending on the same subject. Very often the lawyers filing PILs are not able to know that the same issue has already been pending before the court in an earlier filed PIL which leads to multiplicity of litigations. The lawyers bringing petitions before the court in the matters of public interest are required to ensure that the issue sought to be raised by them is not already pending before the court. The PIL Portal might help avoid multiplicity of petitions. It would help the researchers and students. The Bench hearing PILs might also find this portal useful.

The pleadings in the PILs are not made available as there are issues of privacy, confidentiality, and consequential issues of redaction, which will require more deliberation.

Straw Craft art depicting Kandarpa Hasti (elephant) with Radha Krishna displayed at Judges’ Lounge