NEW DELHI: Digital Courts, a paperless and complete online system for the speedy disposal of cases in the national capital, which aims to boost the disposal of pending cases in the national capital moving at a snail’s pace, shows court records.
As per the court records accessed by TNIE, cases are taking months’ time to be listed and further also the proceedings found to be delayed including the issuance of notices. The idea of digital courts was mainly in view of the pendency of Negotiable Instruments (NI) Act cases in District Courts in the national capital which was a mammoth 3,70,996 as of June 2020 which constitutes more than 54 per cent of all combined criminal cases pending in Delhi. Cheque dishonour cases constitute around 42 per cent of all pending civil and criminal cases in Delhi.
Owing to an upsurge in commercial activities and enhanced usage of cheques as a mode of payment, complaints under Section 138 of the NI Act came to be filed in such large numbers that it became impossible for the courts to handle them within a reasonable time and it also had a highly adverse impact on the court’s normal work in ordinary criminal matters. The digital court was a solution to this as well. Many lawyers in the national capital also expressed dissatisfaction over the delay of cases in such an innovative project.
“This project was admired by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud who had emphasised the need for digital inclusion and an ecosystem that allows the benefits of technology in the legal fraternity. It’s unfortunate that there is a delay in digital courts,” says advocate Vineet Jindal, secretary general of North Delhi Lawyer’s Association.
Once the complaint is allocated to a Digital NI Act trial court, at the stage of cognizance of the complaint by the magistrate, the complainant shall be duty-bound to deposit all original documents including dishonoured cheques, dishonour memo, legal demand notice, dispatch receipt and service proof, reply etc. apart from the signed original complaint, its supporting affidavit and attested affidavit of pre-summoning evidence.
The complainant shall submit the same with the ahlmad of the concerned Digital NI Act court who shall, in turn, keep them in safe custody and intimate the Trial Court about the same. Deposit of the above documents shall be a pre-requisite of taking cognizance and passing of the order under Section 204 CrPC. This will safely keep original documents and complaints.
“All magistrates presiding Digital NI Act courts and their readers will be able to access the entire complaint and its annexures through secured login credentials already provided to them for their judicial/administrative work as also for court hearing of cases. However, the present delay is desperation,” says another lawyer.
