All taluka courts to have e-libraries by March-end

Source | Ahmadabad News line

 

Tipped as first-of-its-kind project, the facility will provide important law journals, judgments of Supreme Court and HCs

The state government plans to set up e-libraries in courts across the 225 talukas by March-end in a bid to provide easy, centralised and cost-effective access to legal and judicial database to judges and advocates.

State Law Minister Dileep Sanghani told The Indian Express that the project was part of his ministry’s plan of strengthening information and communication technology in courts across the state to give judicial administration a boost.

Claiming that Gujarat will be the first state in the country with all the taluka courts having e-library, the minister said that e-libraries would be provided with all important law journals, law books and reported judgments of the Supreme Court and various high courts. It will have a proper Internet facility and equipment to download and print the judgments or parts thereof required by the advocates and judges for reference in the cases they will be arguing and deciding respectively.

According to Sanghani, while access to e-library will be free for various stakeholders, the advocates and others would have to pay for the printouts of the judgments.

He said that since law books and journals had become very costly, many advocates at taluka and even district level were not able to buy them to update themselves with the latest developments. This. He said, was resulting into advocates failing to assist properly in the delivery of justice.

Sanghani said that when he disclosed the e-library project to Justice S J Mukhopadhyaya during his send-off function on Monday, after his elevation to the Supreme Court, Justice Mukhopadhyaya said it was the first project of its kind in the country.