Judicial Infrastructure Gets Major Boost with ₹12101 Crore Investment; e-Courts Phase III Advances Digital Justice Delivery

Over 500 crore pages digitized; e-Filing 3.0, e-Payment system and Virtual Courts rolled out across India

New Delhi | August 1: India’s judicial infrastructure and digital court services are undergoing transformative expansion, with the Ministry of Law and Justice spearheading both physical and digital enhancements under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) and the e-Courts Mission Mode Project, the Union government said on Friday.

Since its inception in 1993-94, the CSS for Judicial Infrastructure Development has facilitated the construction of 22,372 court halls and 19,851 residential units for judicial officers, marking a 41.43% and 94.4% increase, respectively, since 2014. A total of ₹12,101.89 crore has been disbursed under the scheme, of which ₹8,657.59 crore (71.54%) has been released in the last decade alone.

Maharashtra Leads Infrastructure Expansion

In the state of Maharashtra, ₹1,099.83 crore has been allocated since inception, including ₹700.17 crore released since 2014-15. The state currently hosts 2,503 court halls and 2,202 residential units, with another 560 court halls and 144 quarters under construction.

e-Courts Phase III: A Digital Transformation in Progress

Launched under the National e-Governance Plan, the e-Courts Project, operational since 2007, entered Phase III (2023–2027) with a budget outlay of ₹7,210 crore. The initiative aims to digitize, integrate, and modernize India’s judicial system through end-to-end technology solutions.

A major highlight is the digitization of over 521 crore pages across High Courts (213.29 crore) and District Courts (307.89 crore), alongside the development of a software for long-term digital preservation of judicial records.

Other digital services include:

• e-Filing System 3.0: Lawyers can now access and upload case-related documents remotely via upgraded interfaces.
• e-Payment Module: Enables seamless, cashless fee submissions.
• Judgment Search Portal: Provides free public access to judgments with advanced search capabilities.
• NSTEP (National Service and Tracking of Electronic Processes): Facilitates electronic issuance and tracking of court summons and notices.
• Digital Courts 2.1: Supports paperless functioning of courts.
• Virtual Courts: 29 courts across 21 States/UTs now handle traffic challan cases online.
• eSewa Kendras: 1,814 facilitation centres established to offer citizen-friendly legal support services.

Building Courts for the Digital Age

In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Law and Justice, Arjun Ram Meghwal, emphasized the government’s focus on blending digital innovation with traditional infrastructure, ensuring both access to justice and efficiency in legal processes.

By integrating physical expansion with digital innovation, the government aims to make India’s judicial ecosystem more accessible, transparent, and efficient, paving the way for a future-ready justice system.