New Delhi: The first five courtrooms of the Supreme Court are now equipped with Wi-Fi. Chief Justice (CJI) DY Chandrachud on Monday announced this important step towards digitization in the country’s top court. The Court has provided free Wi-Fi facilities to all the lawyers, litigants, and media persons as well as other people visiting the premises.
This step has been taken under e-initiative and this facility can be availed by login on “SCI WiFi”.
At the beginning of the day’s proceedings in the renovated courtroom, the CJI said, “We have already equipped the fifth courtroom with WiFi. The bar rooms are equipped with WiFi. All courtrooms will be like this, there will be no books and papers – it does not mean that we will not need books and papers.
Justice Chandrachud said, “Please give me feedback on whether everything is working well.” The apex court resumed work on Monday after a six-week summer break. To use the Wi-Fi facility, users will have to enter their mobile number, on which they will receive a ‘one-time password’ (OTP) and use this OTP for verification, a Supreme Court official said.
In a circular, the court said, “Under the e-initiative in the Supreme Court of India, free Wi-Fi facility is available for lawyers, litigants, media persons, and other visitors to the apex court.” The circular said, “At present, this facility will be available in the court of the Chief Justice, corridors and plazas, and court numbers two to five including the press lounge.” The top court later said in a statement that it has launched this “future-oriented upgrade” as part of a green initiative for greater use of technology in the justice delivery system.
The statement said, “Honourable Chief Justice Dr. Dhananjay Y. to increase the use of technology in the justice system. Under Chandrachud’s progressive approach, several futuristic upgrades have been made in the Supreme Court from court number one to three.
State-of-the-art Digital Video Conference (VC) systems have been installed for effective communication and cooperation in the facilities which have been increased in the courtroom.
According to the statement, “This system will enable online participation and meetings and increase access and connectivity to the courtroom.” A futuristic LED video wall has also been installed in the courtroom, which will have a high-resolution display for camera feed and multimedia content, the statement said.
According to the statement, the Supreme Court has also developed software to facilitate advocates to upload reference material and citations related to the case. The statement said that the intention and commitment of the apex court to work towards paperless functioning was seen in the constitution bench hearing in September last year.
It added that the apex court is also working on software to provide an e-pass facility for advocates and litigants to reach the courtroom. Earlier also, the Apex Court had taken several steps towards digitization of various judicial processes, including the “launch of e-SCR (Online Free Case Record), Advocates Appearance Portal, Online RTI Portal, implementation of e-office module in Registry Is.”
