Virtual Courts is a concept, aimed at eliminating the presence of litigant or lawyer in the court and for adjudication of cases on a virtual platform. The concept has been evolved in order to efficiently utilize court resources and to provide litigants with an effective avenue to settle petty disputes. Virtual Court can be administered by a Judge over a virtual electronic platform whose jurisdiction may extend to the entire State and function 24X7. Currently, the virtual courts are handling cases pertaining to only traffic challan cases, which have not only reduced the costs of litigation but has also simplified the procedure for redressal of traffic challan cases. Over 3.26 crore cases (3,26,14,617) have been handled by 22 virtual courts and in more than 39 lakhs (39,16,405) cases, online fine of more than Rs. 419.89 crore have been realized till 30.06.2023. The detail breakup of cases dealt through virtual courts across India is at Annexure- I. As on 30.06.2023, there are 22 such courts in 18 States / UTs viz. Delhi (2), Haryana, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala (2), Maharashtra (2), Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jammu and Kashmir (2), Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Meghalaya, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Tripura, West Bengal and Rajasthan.

The Department under its Scheme for Action Research and Studies on Judicial Reforms periodically invites research proposals from eligible institutions on various topics in the field of justice delivery and judicial reforms. Recently proposals have been invited on "Exploring the scope of expansion of Virtual Courts under the Indian Justice Delivery System". All proposals under Action Research are evaluated as per the stipulated guidelines and are subject to approval of a Project Sanctioning Committee formulated for the said Scheme.

The establishment of Virtual Courts is an administrative matter which falls strictly within the purview and domain of the judiciary and the respective State Governments, and the Central Government has no direct role to play in the matter.

 

Annexure I

The detail break-up of cases dealt through Virtual Courts across the country are as under:

StatisticsofVirtualCourts-30.06.2023
S.No	Establishment_Name	Received	Proceeding Done	Contested	Paid Challans	Challan Amount
1	ASSAM TRAFFIC DEPARTMENT	72415	72413	357	19022	13159081
2	CHHATTISGARH TRAFFIC DEPARTMENT	101	87	0	37	81500
3	GUJARAT TRAFFIC DEPARTMENT	126716	74647	82	2718	171300
4	HARYANA TRAFFIC DEPARTMENT	821765	681342	1080	16992	12638701
5	HIMACHAL PRADESH TRAFFIC DEPARTMENT	81631	57247	86	1954	4011753
6	JAMMU TRAFFIC DEPARTMENT	157590	136152	880	38613	21420590
7	KARNATAKA TRAFFIC DEPARTMENT	47857	47824	119	40576	338437490
8	KASHMIR TRAFFIC DEPARTMENT	356434	356433	9300	75231	41025995
9	KERALA(POLICE DEPARTMENT)	635792	625069	1280	54717	28393893
10	KERALA TRANSPORT DEPARTMENT	485190	476054	2971	79969	115151882
11	MADHYA PRADESH TRAFFIC DEPARTMENT	46581	36028	57	1853	1315300
12	MAHARASHTRA TRANSPORT DEPARTMENT	40387	24349	20	1449	2348605
13	MEGHALAYA TRAFFIC DEPARTMENT	437	314	0	33	20000
14	NOTICE BRANCH DELHI TRAFFIC DEPARTMENT	14133187	13712402	77223	1344606	954951505
15	Odisha Traffic CTC-BBSR COMMISSIONERATE	333416	307908	627	20615	19894001
16	PUNE TRAFFIC DEPARTMENT	6080	6056	18	591	114250
17	RAJASTHAN TRAFFIC DEPARTMENT	26497	23650	892	9708	6276170
18	TAMIL NADU TRAFFIC DEPARTMENT	162337	143042	1333	78188	718829890
19	TRIPURA TRAFFIC DEPARTMENT	354	353	1	4	2900
20	UTTAR PRADESH TRAFFIC DEPARTMENT	10238520	7569945	28769	501614	298422756
21	VIRTUAL COURT DELHI(TRAFFIC)	4773216	4734431	105500	1624555	1618662492
22	WEST BENGAL TRAFFIC DEPARTMENT	67940	64293	76	3360	2039452
Total		32614443	29150039	230671	3916405	4198908506

 

This information was given by the Minister of Law and Justice, Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal, in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.

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SS/RKM

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