eCourts are OK ; why not e-Voting ?

 

 

Context :

SC notice on plea to allow OTP-based E-vote, expanding postal voting overseas  /  ET  / Feb 19

 

Extract :

Ø  The CJI was initially skeptical of his plea. “What kind of plea is this ? Sitting in England you want to vote here ? If you don’t care enough to go to your constituency, why should the law help you ?”

 

Ø  The CJI then wondered if the government and Parliament have the power to fix a voting place.

 

Ø  Advocate Kaleeswaram Raj conceded that the government indeed enjoyed such power. There was no change in the law as yet and “ballot papers remain restricted to a small” segment of the population, he argued.

=================================================

NOW FOR A CONTRAST , read this :

 

SC is a global leader in Virtual Hearings amid pandemic   /   TOI   /  22 February 2021

 

Extract :

 

Ø  The Indian judiciary achieved a record of conducting 66.85 lakh case hearings through video-conferencing

Ø  The Supreme Court, according to the Law Ministry, became the global leader with 52,353 virtual hearings during the period

Ø  The court has already advised High Courts to ensure use of eCourts System such as e-Filing and sending out court summonses trough TEXT MESSAGES and EMAILS to registered litigants

 

Ø  Number of cases heard using VIDEO-CONFERENCING :

 

           #   High Courts……………………… 20.6  lakh

           #   District Courts……………………45.7  lakh

           #   Supreme Court………………..  52,353

 

Ø  Virtual Courts set up……………………………. 9 courts in 7 States ( to try Traffic offenders )

 

 These courts heard 42 lakh cases and realized Rs 140 Crore in fines

 

Ø  Delhi High Court recently started 34 DIGITAL COURTS to hear cheque bounce cases

 

Ø  Increase in Pending Cases ( from Dec 2918 to Jan 2021 ) :

 

#   Subordinate Courts ………………… 2.9 crore to 3.7 crore

 

#   High Courts………………………………..49.8 lakh to 56.6 lakh

 

#   Supreme Court…………………………  58,000 to 65,000

 

===================================================

 

 

SOME MORE CONTRAST :

 

Ø  SC gears up for live streaming of sessions  /  04 Nov

Extract :

Ø  The panel set up by the E-Committee will give its report on four important aspects,

      #  Infrastructure required for LIVE STREAMING of proceedings from all HCs

          and nearly 20,000 trial courts

          #  Funds needed for this gigantic project that will have to be broken up

              State-wise

     #  Software suitable for this endeavor

     #  The Central assistance required through budgetary allocations

=================================================

AND SOME MORE CONTRAST :

SC: CCTVs must in offices of CBI, ED, Police Stations  /  HT – 03 Dec

 

Ø  In 2018, the court had passed a judgment for bringing all police stations under the surveillance of the CCTV cameras to check human rights abuses. For this purpose, all states were required to constitute independent committees that could study CCTV camera footages and periodically publish reports of its observations.

Ø  Extending the ambit of its 2018 order, the top court maintained that not only police stations but all the other agencies, which have the power to make arrests and interrogate, must also have CCTVs and recording devices installed in their premises. Therefore, the bench headed by Justice Rohinton F Nariman directed the central government to get CCTV cameras with audio-recording facility installed in the offices of CBI, ED, NIA, Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Department of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) and all such agencies.

===================================================

Dear Hon CJI,

If a voter can walk down to the poll booth (where he is registered ), he would gladly do so , if he is keen on exercising his vote . On the other hand, if a citizen does NOT want to vote, he won’t even if he is in a building adjoining the polling booth

But a majority of our 300 million voters who are UNABLE to vote because they are, currently living a few hundred km away from their polling booth, do want to vote

Over the past 2 / 3 years, Supreme Court has issued significant directives to all concerned, to speed up delivery of justice by taking help of INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY / DIGITIZING of JUDICIAL PROCESSES

I urge you to accelerate this process by “ directing “ ,

Ø  Central Government

Ø  State Governments

Ø  Election Commission …. Etc.,

- to consider implementation of MOBILE-BASED voting as suggested at :

How about “ Sandbox for Mobile Voting “ ?................[ 27 Nov 2020 ]

Vote from any centre …………………………………………………..[ 25 Jan 2021 ]

 

With regards,

Hemen Parekh  /  hcp@RecruitGuru.com  /  22 Feb 2021