CJI declares Sikkim as first paperless state judiciary in India

• Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant declared Sikkim to be the first paperless state judiciary in the country.

• Addressing the inaugural session of the two-day National Conclave on Technology and Judicial Education in Gangtok, the CJI said the Indian legal landscape has moved away from the era of the paper trail, where vital records languished in physical storage, to a vibrant digital ecosystem.

• The CJI congratulated the Chief Justice of the High Court of Sikkim and the state government for achieving the milestone of a paperless High Court and for placing Sikkim on the national map of judicial innovation.

What the CJI highlighted:

i) Integrating technology into judicial processes dismantles geographical barriers to help litigants overcome problems of terrain, finance and distance.

ii) Digital reform is not a matter of theory, but a practical necessity for sustaining the rule of law.

iii) What once required physical presence and toilsome inquiry is now available through a simple digital interface.

iv) When a litigant in the most distant corner of the country can track the progress of a case or view an order without intermediaries; if he can engage counsel from across the country and view proceedings in real time through video conferencing and live proceedings, the power dynamics of the courtroom undergo a healthy calibration.

• Sikkim Governor Om Prakash Mathur said the state moving towards becoming the country’s first paperless judiciary is a historic step towards realising the dream of ‘Digital India’.

• He said this initiative will not only speed up the process of justice, but also make it more transparent and accessible for common citizens through e-filing and digital records.

• The inclusion of technology in judicial education will not only organise legal processes, but also prepare future legal leadership for the beginning of a new, just and modern democratic era, the Governor added.

(The author is a trainer for Civil Services aspirants.)