District Courts get e-kiosk

Ishrat S Banwait

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Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 5

In a bid to strengthen e-courts, an e-kiosk has been installed at the District Courts here. The digital information kiosk is an internet-enabled touchscreen wherein anyone can view orders, case status and cause list. A similar kiosk is already installed at the Punjab and Haryana High court.

Located on the ground floor of the court complex, the e-kiosk will make it easier for litigants to find any information they need. It contain all information that is available at the e-courts website. 

The machine was recently installed and advocates are seen using it as of now.

To get any information, the user has to select an option of case status, order or cause list and follow the steps to get the specific information. 

For example, if a litigant needs to check the status of a case, he have to touch on the case status option. Then, the screen will show five options, including CNR number, filing number, FIR number, registration number and party name. 

The user can select any option and proceed to locate his case. To write down anything on the screen, a touch-keyboard is also provided in the machine.

Month on, LED screens yet to be made operational

Following the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s guidelines, LED screens were installed in the district courts last month. However, these screens, meant for video conferencing, are yet to start functioning as none of them have connections as of now. 

The location of these screens in the courts is such that no switchboard is available nearby and the work to install the same, if needed, is yet to begin. At present, one room on the ground floor has the video conferencing facility and a court has to be shifted there in case the facility is to be availed.

The service is meant to facilitate recording of statements of witnesses without their physical presence in the court. The Supreme Court had also said the video-conferencing facility would help in speedy disposal of  cases related to divorce, custody and other such cases where the estranged couple live in different cities.