SC Added To National Judicial Data Grid; Key Features Of Real-Time Information System And How It Will Help Litigants

National Judicial Data Grid, the innovative e-governance model to track the data of court cases in India, was integrated with the Supreme Court after the Chief Justice of India, DY Chandrachud, announced the same on Thursday.

The country's apex court, burdened with over 80,000 pending cases, was previously excluded from the real-time information system. CJI underscored that the integration would facilitate the accountability of the benches while increasing the transparency in the Judiciary.

"It is a historic day. It is a unique platform developed by the NIC and the in-house team of the Supreme Court. Now, at the click of a button, you can see real-time info on the pendency of cases, year-wise, total pendency of registered and unregistered cases, number of cases decided coram-wise," the CJI said.

The online data platform acts as a repository of court cases and provides information on the number of filed, disposed, and pending cases in different courts in India. Launched in 2020 under the 'eCourts Project,' National Judicial Data Grid has been integrated with more than 18,000 District courts, subordinate courts, as well as all the High Courts in India. The latest integration of the Supreme Court to the already existing system was initiated in September last year after the court gave its nod.

"583 cases are pending before three-judge benches, and I will soon set up those benches to expedite their resolution," he further said, signifying the need to resolve the backlog of cases in the Supreme Court.

The National Judicial Data Grid website offers a simple interface which has three main pages namely, the District and Taluka courts of India, the High Court of India and the freshly added Supreme Court of India.

Website Interface of NJDG (Supreme Court)

Website Interface of NJDG (High Courts of India)

Website of NJDG (District and Subordinate courts)

What is the National Judicial Data Grid

According to the Ministry of Law and Justice, the Government of India, National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) is a database of orders, judgments, and case details of 18,735 District and subordinate Courts and High Courts created as an online platform under the eCourts Project.

Key features of the National Judicial Data Grid

1. Connected District and Taluka courts regularly update data, including details about judicial proceedings and decisions, from all computerised district and subordinate courts across the country in nearly real-time.

2. All High Courts have also been connected to the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG), providing real time data on case pendency to disposal.

3. Litigants can access case status information in respect of over 23.81 crore cases and more than 23.02 crore orders/judgments about these computerised courts as of date.

4. Both civil and criminal cases data is avialable on NJDG, with the ability to perform drill-down analysis based on how old and where it was filed.

5. The NJDG serves as a tool for keeping track of cases, handling them more efficiently, and reducing case backlogs. It offers timely information for policymakers to make decisions that speed up case resolution and decrease delays.

6. Additionally, it makes it easier to monitor how courts are performing and spot bottlenecks in the system.