In A First, Supreme Court To Organise Hackathon For Innovative Ideas To Refine Judiciary's Efficiency

In its 72-year history, the Supreme Court, for the first time, is conducting a "hackathon" event which will help refine the efficiency of the current judiciary system. The hackathon will send a clear message that it is looking at the general public and the country's youth to contribute innovations and practical proposals that can improve the competence of the justice delivery system.

According to Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, the event will facilitate productive "collaborative thinking."

Chief Justice To Review 18 Best Ideas

Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul will oversee the organisation of the novel event, whereas the Chief Justice, judges of the Supreme Court, and others will hear presentations of 18 of the best ideas. The participants' suggestions should fall within the guidelines of the 2013 Supreme Court Rules.

On Monday, the Supreme Court stated that it was seeking "practical propositions" to enhance its daily operations – from filing to the listing. The aim is to "bring in evolution by including a new approach for updating the ecosystem by generating out-of-the-box, open, inventive ideas," says a statement from the Supreme Court, reported The Hindu. The statement further stated that larger hackathons are proposed to be organised in future under the aegis of various Committees of apex court judges.

Unique & Independent Platform For Court Sessions

The hackathon will highlight the court's efforts to identify a unique and independent online platform to broadcast court sessions nationwide for public consumption.

The Supreme Court Registry recently came clean about the fact that it lacked the technical know-how and infrastructure to self-sufficiently host live streaming of the court proceedings and was forced to rely on third-party apps and solutions.

The National Informatics Centre (NIC) webcast on YouTube is currently being used by the court to live-stream its Constitution Bench hearings. The apex court has come a long way since the epidemic took it off guard, according to the CJI. The effects of the epidemic began to wear off and eventually, the court was forced to improvise and switch from the conventional physical sessions to video conferencing.

Attorneys are currently participating in hearings both physically and online. For registered attorneys and media, the Supreme Court website offers an app. Additionally, attorneys and litigants who attend in person for their cases share virtual links via WebEx.

The CJI, who monitored the court's e-committee during the pandemic, stated that more consideration should be given to providing smooth access to lawyers and litigants who may not even have a laptop or a mobile phone to access justice in the Supreme Court.

Filing Hassle-Free Applications

The court is also striving to completely eliminate paper. A Constitution Bench headed by the CJI took the first action in this approach. Instead of the usual bulky files, each of the five judges on this bench hears cases while plugged into a laptop or tablet.

The court is also working to enhance its automated method for listing cases before different Benches with the least amount of human interaction.

Moreover, Chief Justice Chandrachud has also directed an audit that will understand the challenges faced by the differently-abled aiming to remove barriers to accessibility. As a result, courts have been ordered to file the necessary documents in a soft copy format.

To avoid the hassle of sending Right To Information (RTI) applications by post, the Supreme Court also inaugurated its RTI website last month, thus making the system more time-efficient.

Also Read: Supreme Court Launches Online RTI Portal, Here's How You Can Use It