Kochi:

 Supreme Court judge Justice B R Gavai on Friday inaugurated the country’s first exclusive Digital Court for handling cases under the Negotiable Instruments Act.

At an event held at the High Court auditorium here, Justice Gavai also launched an online dispute resolution platform, We-Solv Virtual Solution Maker, which will facilitate online deliberations by all the stakeholders.

He also inaugurated a Model Digital Court Room conceived by the Kerala High Court, specifically designed to overcome the limitations of traditional court rooms.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who also attended the event, inaugurated the Special Courts in Ernakulam and Alappuzha which are dedicated to handle cases under the SC/ST(Prevention of Atrocities) Act and the BUDS Act (Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Act, 2019) respectively.

Referring to the advent of technological interventions after the COVID-19, Justice Gavai said the Supreme Court started virtual hearings within 48 hours of lockdown.

“As all of you are aware, when Justice Chandrachud, as his lordship then was, had dealt with a public interest litigation, that too virtually with regard to the supply of oxygen to various states. And therefore, this technology provided solace to the millions of Indian citizens who otherwise would have been deprived of the right to access to justice,” Justice Gavai said.

He said justice should not be denied to a person on account of his incapacity to pay a lawyer.

“Also, justice should not be denied to him/her because of his/her geographical reasons, because he/she cannot reach the higher courts. And we have seen that on account of the invention of technology, even a person sitting in the remotest part of the country can directly appear before the Supreme Court.

“I am sure that these inventions would also help in providing easy and affordable justice to the last citizen of this country so that our dream of social and economic justice along with political justice is realised,” Justice Gavai said.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Vijayan said technology is part and parcel of our day-to-day life.

“At such a time, it is imperative that all organs of the government adapt more and more to technological advancement. While we embrace technology and the solutions it offers, it is also important that we take the necessary precaution in dealing with the challenges it poses as well,” he said.

During the event, state Law Minister P Rajeeve inaugurated the newly constructed security-cum facilitation block at the high court complex and Finance Minister K N Balagopal inaugurated the CCTV surveillance system.

Nandan Nilekani, the mentor of PUCAR, the knowledge partner of the Open and Networked Court System also spoke during the occasion.

Supreme Court Justices Rajesh Bindal and C T Ravikumar, Kerala High Court Acting Chief Justice A Muhammad Mushtaq, Kerala High Court judges, Justice A K Jayashankar Nambiar and Justice V Raja Vijayaraghavan, Advocate General, K Gopalakrishna Kurup, among others who took part in the event.

Chief Justice of India, Justice D Y Chandrachud was supposed to inaugurate the event, but he cancelled, reportedly due to ill health.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)