E-Court Projects to integrate access to case information, expedite service of notice launched in Telangana

The Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court, Raghvendra Singh Chauhan on Wednesday launched two e-Court projects i.e. the Inter-operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS) and the National Service and Tracking of Electronic Processes (NSTEP) project for all the districts of Telangana.

Whereas the ICJS is meant to integrate access to criminal case information across various stakeholders in the criminal justice delivery system, the NSTEP is aimed and expediting the electronic service notice and summons in cases.

On the ICJS Project, the press note issued by the High Court’s Registrar General informs that

“Inter-operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS) is … aimed at integrating the Crime and Criminals Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) with the e-Courts and e-Prisons databases, as well as with other pillars of the Criminal Justice System such as Forensics, Prosecution and Juvenile Homes, in a phased manner… for seamless flow of information among these pillars of Criminal Justice System to achieve “One Data Once Entry”

… The interoperability among the stake holders of Interoperable Criminal Justice System i.e. Courts, Police, Prosecutors, Forensic experts and Prisons Department is aiming to reduce the multiple data entry and increased real time information exchange between the stakeholders for effective functioning.“

By facilitating the flow of information between different stakeholders of the criminal justice system thus, the ICJS aims to make the justice delivery system more speedy and transparent. The e-court project further aims to empower citizens, investigating agencies and policy makers on a holistic level.

It is designed so that national level searches may be carried out on the platform based on search parameters such as Name, Relative Name, Mobile No, Email-Id, Unique Identifiers (like FIR No, CNR No., Prison ID etc.), Addresses and Contents (free text).

“It also provides customizable National Level Dashboard for Analytics on various metrics.”

The press note adds that data ownership remains with the stakeholders and that the tool involves secure data sharing.

The project had already been successfully tested at the Subedari Police Station Warangal Police Commissionerate. In December last year, Justice (now retired) Madan B Lokur, who was in charge of the Supreme Court e-court committee, launched the said project in Warangal through video-conferencing.  With the launch, it is informed that Telangana becomes the first in the country where live exchange of data between Courts and Police is enabled.

Another e-court project launched was the National Service and Tracking of Electronic Processes (NSTEP). The Case Information System (CIS) already allows the electronic generation of case information through court portals. The NSTEP aims to further simplify and expedite the process. The functions of the NSTEP, as detailed in the press note, includes the following:

• Through the process of NSTEP, service of notice and summons is expedited and made electronically.
• Inter-State service and inter-District service of notice is simplified and postal and other delays are obviated. Real time updates about service status would also reduce delay to great extent

The process involved in availing the NSTEP facility is also provided as follows:

• Process Generation is done in CIS. The process needs to be published and once the process is published it cannot be edited. The published process is fetched on NSTEP Portal.
• Processes are allocated to Bailiffs and the allocations would immediately reflect on their mobile devices. Bailiffs will visit location, take photograph, obtain on screen signature, and his location would be captured by GPS coordinates and finally he uploads the service of report. The report is immediately reflected on the portal and pulled in CIS.
• Initially the NSTEP is being utilized by the Nazarath Section through Web browser i.e. the Bailiffs are giving acknowledgment to the Nazarath Section which would be updating the NSTEP portal immediately for pulling the same into the CIS software.

The NSTEP facility is presently available only for civil cases.

[Read the press note here]