Supreme Court goes digital to cut human interface to ward off coronavirus threat

The Supreme Court has announced a slew of measures that will drastically curtail human interface in the judiciary, including options for lawyers to argue their cases through videoconferencing, 24x7 e-filing facilities and a provision to beam proceedings through smart TVs into press rooms inside the court complex, to ward off the novel coronavirus threat.

The top court also plans to take a self-declaration from all those wishing to enter the court regarding their recent travel history and health status, it said in a release issued on Monday.

The announcement followed a high-level meeting between Chief Justice of India S A Bobde and some senior judges including Justices Arun Mishra, U U Lalit, D Y Chandrachud and L Nageshwara Rao.


It decided to take steps to introduce thermal sensors for all visitors, ensure proper sanitisation, and deploy volunteers to enforce social distancing.

The court also went into an overdrive on a proposed shift to digitisation to be led by an e-committee chaired by Justice Chandrachud.

All processes and proceedings would be made paperless and e-filing facilities made available all day long.