How To File A Case Online in India

By:  Priyam Jain

How To File A Case Online

In attempts to make justice less expensive, more accessible and speedy the e-filing in the Supreme court commenced in India from 2 October 2006. This electronic innovation gained a strong recognition through its subsequent endorsement in the e-court project approved by government of India in February 2007. As a part of this project a  user-friendly program with interactive features has been prepared by the National Informatics Centre (NIC).

Online link of e-filing

Any Advocate-On-Record of the Supreme Court of India or the petitioner-in-person can file his or her case online using the service provided at www.supremecourtofindia.nic.in.

Instructions for e-filing registration

• First time users of Supreme Court E-filing have to register through the “Sign Up” option
• Through e-filing onlyAdvocate-On-Record and petitioner-in-personcan file cases in the Supreme Court Of India.
• Advocate option is to be chosen if you are an  Advocate-On-Recordotherwise choose in-person option if you are petitioner-in-person
• For Advocate-On-Record, his/her code (Advocate-On-Record Code) would be “Login Id”, while in-person will create his/her “Login Id” through “Sign Up” option. Password needs to be entered thereafter.”Login Id” and “Password” will be created once the mandatory requirements are filled properly.
• After successful login “Disclaimer Screen” appears on the screen. Clicking “I agree” button on the disclaimer allows the user to proceed further.
• After successful login the user can file a case electronically.
• “New Case” option allows the user to file a new case
• “Modify’ option allows the user to carryout changes to the already e-filed case, provided the court fee payment option is not invoked.
• Court fee can be paid only through credit card  
• Defects associated with the e-filed case will be e-mailed to the advocate/petitioner by the Supreme Court Registry.

NOTE: Petition filed through e-mail are not accepted. For electronic filing of cases in Supreme Court use e-filing facility only.

Apart from the Supreme Court, Delhi High Court also commenced  E-filling facility from October, 2013.It began for taxation and company courts in a phased manner but soon it would be introduced in civil and criminal courts.

Advantages Of E-filing

• Convenience- Filing will be open for 24*7 basis. This accords one the flexibility to work at one’s convenience. Filing fees can also be paid from thecomfort of one’soffice/home using credit card/ internet banking.
• Space-Where 2 lakh square feet of space is required to keep court files, whereas only 6 square feet of space will be enough after e-filing.
• Immediate Access – An e-filing system which is properly designed to provide online access to files will permit attorneys representing parties to have immediate access to the filings as soon as they are up on site. No more waiting for two or three days for a copy of the brief to come in mail.
• Electronic Text-There are significant advantages to electronic text over briefs and filings on paper. Electronic text can be searched. It can be quickly copied and pasted. It can be stored and archived on computer media, thus saving shelf space. Advocates or litigants can bring their petitions in a soft copying a PDF format at the e-filing centre set up at the court.
• Transparency- It will improve transparency. Any technology which results in quicker and easier access to the courts, under a well-crafted set of rules would ultimately benefit the public.

Disadvantages Of E-filing

• Cost of Training- E-filing warrants a lot of expertise and IT knowledge. All participants including lawyer, judges, litigants must be familiar with these technologies and knowledge. This would incur huge training expenditure.
• Vague Guidelines-No set of clear guidelines for advocate-on-record who are responsible for filing cases as to what professional standards and legal obligation they have to meet in dealing with electronically petitioner claims and relevant information.
• Social and Cultural Barriers- Despite significant progress in the several areas, India’s socio-economical reality is still characterized by low literacy, sex segregation, discrimination and lack of IT knowledge and awareness. A study revealed that only 1.2% of population in India as compared to 49.3% of Singapore and 52.5% of Australia can use online service. And 0.45% as compared to 46.46% in Australia has PCs.
• Error-Electrical failure can cause temporary suspension or permanent loss of data. Information can also be deleted in a error.

Though there are certain  disadvantages to the  e-filing system, but the no. of advantages over shadow the disadvantages that are inherent to this e-innovation     Certainly, the introduction of the information technology to the court proceedings will ultimately help in moving to next level of fully-fledged e-courts. This would surely reduce the back-log of cases and the disadvantages of maintaining these through vast amount of papers and files.