As CJI Chandrachud marks one year in office, a look at what's changed at the top court

New Delhi: Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, who is completing one year at the helm on Thursday, has undertaken several groundbreaking initiatives. These initiatives include the adoption of cutting-edge technology and making court premises more accessible and inclusive.

Among the litigant-friendly facilities are the hybrid hearing system, the upgrading of the Integrated Case Management System (ICMIS) for a more efficient and advanced legal ecosystem, the introduction of an online RTI portal, accessibility to judgments (e-SCR) in translated forms in various regional languages, with over 36,000 judgments now available on e-SCR, and the establishment of an e-Sewa Kendra.

In order to safeguard the environment and reduce the carbon footprint by minimizing paper usage, initiatives such as the advocates' online appearance portal, paperless filing, and the e-Office remained the focus of the registry.

"From its launch on May 12, 2023, until October 19, 2023, as many as 9,913 fresh filings have been made using the new e-Filing module in a variety of matters, and the e-Sewa Kendra has attended to more than 2,400 queries since its inception," an official source said.

The Supreme Court also entered into an MoU with IIT Madras to facilitate the digital transformation of the Indian judiciary.

"Every month, approximately 5,500 letter petitions and 10,000 emails are received in the PIL English section, which are now digitally processed. To complete the circle of transparency and accountability, the Supreme Court onboarded its case data on the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) on September 14, 2023," the source added.

In a significant step toward a gender-just legal order, the Supreme Court launched a "Handbook on Combating Gender Stereotypes" aimed at eradicating gender stereotypes from judicial discourse. The top court, under the direction of the CJI, also took the lead in the inclusion of the LGBTQIA+ community within the Supreme Court premises.

Despite inheriting 69,647 cases on November 9, 2022, and an unusually heavy filing of more than 51,384 cases during the interregnum period, the pendency as of October 20, 2023, is recorded as 70,754, indicating that the cases pending in the Supreme Court have not increased significantly, officials said.