DIGITALISATION OF CIVIL JUSTICE IN INDIA: E-FILING, PROCEDURAL EFFICIENCY AND ACCESS TO JUSTICE UNDER THE CODE OF CIVIL PROCEDURE, 1908

India’s civil courts have moved from a handful of computerised registries to a national platform on which more than 1.25 crore cases have been e-filed, yet the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (CPC) still speaks the language of paper: plaints are “presented”, summonses are “delivered” and documents are “produced”. This paper examines how far the CPC, read with the Information Technology Act, 2000, the new evidence law and High Court rules, supports electronic filing, and what digitalisation has actually done for procedural efficiency and access to justice. It points out that the framework is technology neutral but not technology enabling. There have been problems with E-filing being based upon High Court rules and practice directions not uniform legislation which have had the consequence that documents were duplicated, there was uncertainty about the limitation effect and differential access to the system. Drawing on official data, judicial decisions and comparative experience, the paper concludes that digitalisation improves speed and convenience only when it is paired with a clear statutory mandate, assisted access for the digitally excluded and honest measurement of results, and it proposes targeted reforms to that end. Keywords : Digitalisation; E-Filing; Code of Civil Procedure; eCourts; Procedural Efficiency; Access to Justice