Release Of eGujHC Vision Document For Comprehensive Portal For End-To-End Paperless Adjudication In Gujarat High Court

A comprehensive Vision Document on complete end-to-end paperless adjudication of cases at the High Court of Gujarat was released at the esteemed hands of Hon’ble Mr Justice Surya Kant, Judge, Supreme Court of India in the function held at Gujarat High Court Auditorium on 7th December 2024; in presence of Shri Bhupendrabhai Patel, Hon’ble Chief Minister of State of Gujarat, Hon’ble Mrs Justice Sunita Agarwal, the Chief Justice of the High Court of Gujarat, Hon’ble Law Minister of the State of Gujarat, Shri Rushikeshbhai Patel, Hon’ble sitting Judges of the High Court of Gujarat, Advocate General, Mr. Kamal B. Trivedi and other dignitaries present on the occasion.

The eGujHC Vision Document has been prepared under the vision and guidance of Hon’ble Mrs. Justice Sunita Agarwal, Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court, with the active role of Hon’ble Mr Justice Nikhil S. Kariel, Judge, High Court of Gujarat. The document envisions a comprehensive path of transformation of present judicial processes at the High Court of Gujarat from physical form to an end-to-end paperless mode. The philosophy behind the vision and the methodology of implementation of the same detailing the benefits for all the stakeholders has been vividly elaborated in the eGujHC Vision Document.

The eGujHC Vision Document reveals a litigant-friendly picturesque vision of the system upon switching to end-to-end e-mode of functioning on the judicial as well as administrative side of the working of the High Court. The portal declared through the Vision Document to be implemented encompasses the whole of the deliverables in the form of Dashboards which is the latest mode of user interface of modern software solutions.

All the stakeholders i.e. Ld. Advocates & Ld. Senior Advocates, Ld. Law Officers, Advocate Clerks, Litigants & Litigant Organizations, the whole Registry, the Hon’ble Judges and Hon’ble the Chief Justice have been covered with the respective roles and responsibilities in the eGujHC Portal along with the stakeholder-wise Modules and Dashboards covering the same. The stakeholders of the eGujHC platform include almost all the organs of the justice delivery system including the most important beneficiary of the justice delivery system i.e. the litigant. The “NO ONE IS LEFT OUT” motto has been adopted in envisioning the platform.

Some of the salient features of the envisioned eGujHC Portal for the High Court of Gujarat are:

1. Paperless – Zero Paper Dependence
   
   • Pure Paperless Mode of Adjudication
   • No Physical Copies are to be sought from the stakeholders
   • No hard copy conversion (printing) of e-filed cases by Registry
2. Unified All-in-One Platform of eGujHC Portal
   
   • No separate islands of software which need amalgamation efforts and infrastructure to give a seamless experience
   • eGujHC shall be a single unified platform to take care of all stakeholders – internal as well as external functionaries
3. Non-Discriminatory Solution for Digital Haves & Have Nots
   
   • Access to eCasefiles within the Courtroom with touchscreen display devices addressing the Digital Divide by provisioning the access infrastructure in the Courtroom
   • Advocates would also be able to access their case file from the eGujHC from within the Courtroom from touchscreen devices which will be installed in Courtrooms to enable hearings.
4. Same and Exact Pagination of eCasefiles for One and All
   
   • Automatic system-generated page numbering on e-filed documents
   • Matching pagination for the Bench, Advocates, and Registry.
   • Indexing with document type segregation and linking.
5. Guarantees Declared through the eGujHC Vision Document
   
   • GueST: Guaranteed eScrutiny within Twelve Hours of Filing
   • GRAND24: Guaranteed Registration Number Allocation within 24 Hours for defect-free cases
6. Video Conferencing Helpdesk with Central Filing Centre
   
   • Virtual interaction for queries on filed matters to reduce footfall at the filing center.
7. Service of Advance Copies to Government Departments
   
   • Auto-transmission of eFiled documents to concerned departments and organizations to eliminate communication delays.
8. Vertical Synchronization with District Judiciary
   
   • Automatic Fetching of Cause Titles and Records
   • Digital transmission of records and updates.
9. Vertical Synchronization with Police and Jail Authorities
   
   • Integration with ICJS for seamless data transmission and compliance.
10. Horizontal Integration with Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)
    
    • Modules for Mediation, Arbitration, and Legal Services.
11. Digital Integration with eGovernance Platforms
    
    • Integration with Aadhaar e-Sign, DigiLocker, and ePost for secure services.