On Monday, the Supreme Court issued instructions to all High Courts regarding the digitalization of lower court records.
The division bench of Justices Krishna Murari and Sanjay Karol made the following observation while hearing a criminal appeal in which the lower court records were lost: “The job of the Court of Appeal is not to depend on the lower Court’s judgment to uphold the conviction but, based on the record available before it duly called from the Trial Court and the arguments advanced before it, to come to a conclusion thereon…Had there been properly preserved records of the Trial Court, the issue in the present appeal as to whether
It in this manner underlined on the utilization of innovation to save court records. ” The bench made the observation that technology is becoming increasingly intertwined with the systems of dispute resolution and adjudication at the moment, with the trends pointing to an even greater complementarity and complementarity between technology and law.
The following instructions were given by the bench:
1. The Recorder General of the Great Courts will guarantee that in all instances of criminal preliminary, also as common suits, the digitization of records should be properly embraced with promptitude at all Region Courts, ideally inside the time recommended for documenting an allure inside the laws of methodology.
2. Once the digitization and authentication systems for the digitized records are in place under their jurisdiction, the concerned District Judge must ensure that the digitized records are verified as quickly as possible.
3. A constantly refreshed record of Register of Records digitized will be kept up with
intermittent reports being shipped off the concerned High Courts for appropriate bearings.
The bench emphasized that an SOP for digital preservation was issued by the E-committee of the Supreme Court of India on September 24, 2021. The said SOP accommodates 18 stages for digitalisation process including the accompanying and is aimed at.
b. A digitisation cell at every one of the Great Courts is to be laid out to screen the advancement on everyday premise. The management of contracts with vendors for specialized services is the responsibility of the cell.
c. An internet based information global positioning framework to monitor the information moved to the High Courts and to work with the receipts for each arrangement of moved records to the Area Courts too.
d. Region Courts to have reinforcements of all information moved to the High Court consistently while keeping an autonomous record thereof.
The Court stated, “…considering the importance and essentiality of such record, a robust system of responsibility and accountability must be developed and fostered to ensure the proper protection and regular updation of all records facilitating the smooth operation of the judicial process.”
Srishti Bhardwaj, B.com LL.B 8th Sem.
