'Big Bang Impact': SC to Share Info About Filing and Listing of Cases Through WhatsApp

The Supreme Court will start sharing information relating to cause lists, and filing and listing of cases to advocates through WhatsApp messages, Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud announced on Thursday.

New Delhi:The Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud on Thursday announced that the Supreme Court will start sharing information relating to cause lists, and filing and listing of cases to advocates through WhatsApp messages.

The CJI said that in its 75th year, the Supreme Court has launched an initiative to strengthen access to justice by integration of WhatsApp messages with the IT services of the apex court and the advocates will receive automated messages about filing the cases. The CJI also shared the official WhatsApp number of the apex court and added that it will not receive any messages and calls.

The CJI made this announcement before a nine-judge bench, which is led by him, commenced the hearing on a vexed legal question arising from the petitions whether private properties can be considered "material resources of the community" under Article 39(b) of the Constitution, which is a part of the Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP).

The CJI said that the members of the bar will also get the cause lists, list of cases to be heard by the court, as and when they are published, on mobile phones. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said “this is another revolutionary step...” and also shared the views of the Centre, and added that it was committed to the digitisation of the judiciary to enhance the access for litigants and lawyers.

“This will bring a significant change in our working habits and will go a long way in saving papers," CJI Chandrachud said. The new system, he said, has the potential to have a “big bang impact” and “the facility will bring a significant change in our daily work habits that will go a long way in saving paper and our planet earth".

Justice Hrishikesh Roy, who is also part of the nine-judge bench, on a lighter note, said that the Chief Justice says more and more digital devices you use, "you will look more and more young."

The CJI said in “some high courts if you want video conferencing (for lawyers’ and litigants’) links then they should be informed 48 hours in advance and you will VC link only if you are above the age of 60. Then we had to pass a judicial order, why are you? The links should be on the cause list, why should apply two days in advance”.

The CJI said the apex court is also migrating all our services into Meghraj cloud 2.0, which is the cloud infra created by National Informatics Centre (NIC) and the Supreme Court and e-courts project has already been migrated. “Now, with the cloud infrastructure all courts can go online as earlier we had some limitations because of the capacity…. The data is all preserved on servers in India. There is no problem of data going outside India" said the CJI.