1.

Timeline for typical civil and criminal cases

It depends on case to case which is given in Limitation Act, 1963 Bar of Limitation.”

“Section 5. Extension of prescribed period in certain cases” –

“Any appeal or any application, other than an application under any of the provisions of
Order XXI of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908) may be admitted after the
prescribed period, if the appellant or the applicant satisfies the court that he had sufficient
cause for not preferring the appeal or making the application within such period.”

“Explanation - The fact that the appellant or the applicant was misled by any order, practice
or judgment of the High Court in ascertaining or computing the prescribed period may be
sufficient cause within the meaning of this section.”

“Comment: "We do not find any cogent ground given in the application for condonation of
delay which in law can constitute sufficient cause to explain the inordinate delay in filing of
the special leave petitions." Warlu, Appellant v. Gangotribai AIR 1994 SUPREME COURT
466”

“Section 4. Expiry of prescribed period when court is closed”–

“When the prescribed period for any suit, appeal or application expires on a day when the
court is closed, the suit, appeal or application may be instituted, preferred or made on the day
when the court reopens.”

“Explanation - A court shall be deemed to be closed on any day within the meaning of this
section if during any part of its normal working hours it remains closed on that day.”

“I'm going to give you an approximate time frame to work with. As with all matters,
especially court cases in India, the time frame may differ depending on a lot of factors.
However, I'm giving you a very conservative estimate based on my experience:”

“A. Small Causes Court- Time frame for decision- 5 years.”

“B. District court- Senior division- (One of you will definitely appeal)- Time frame for
decision-5 years.”
“C. Writ Petition or First Appeal in High Court- (Again, one of you will definitely appeal
against the District court's decision) Time frame for decision-10 years.”

“D. Supreme Court- (Again, one of you will definitely appeal against the High court's
decision) Time frame for decision-5 years.”

“If you are above 50 years of age, don't even think of getting this issue resolved through
courts in your lifetime.”There are so many ways that your tenants can stall the case. That is
exactly what their lawyer will advise them.”

“A piece of advice- If you do decide to file a case, file it under "Bonafide requirement" and
include your sons/daughters in the case as they will be the actual beneficiaries in the end. can
not comment upon the winnability ratio of your case without seeing Your documents like title
document of suit property, electricity bills, rent agreement etc.”

“Usually such type of cases take time, average time will be around 2–3 years. But time period
can be varies from court to court, depending upon the courts, attitude of opposite lawyers,
number of witnesses to be examined from both side etc.”Usually there are three stages in a
civil suit:”

1. Framing of Issues
2. Evidence
3. Arguement

“So if number of witness is less or most of the witness are already examined, as may be the
case your matter will be disposed off within a year. A civil case may take up to 5 years to get
solved by the court depending upon the type of case. Like Mutual Divorce cases can be
solved within 2 months or less.”

“When you will hand over the case to a Lawyer you will have all assurances about a
favourable judgement in a short time. He may try also, but there is not much in his hand, even
though he may sincerely go about to get a favourable judgement. "Tareekh pe Tareekh,
Tareekh pe Tareekh ' is not only a popular film dialogue but a fact to be confronted by
serious litigants.”

“Moreover, why it is that the Lawyers, who have been recognised as the officers of Court,
with pious duty of keeping the machinery of legal process well oiled, attempt to rust it by ill
advising their clients and stretching the case to the extent where it gets relegated to travesty
of justice, don't also get penalised?”Written agreement or none, in either case you have to
approach the designated court. The parties to the litigation have right to go in Appeal since
there is no concept of finality of a judgement, unless perhaps the judgement is from the Apex
court.”

“A friend of mine, a retired senior Government servant had to rent out an accommodation
since his own was not being vacated. A case was filed. Four years elapsed with no sign of any
succour. My friend sold his house, since there was no stay in the matter. The person
purchasing the house is a retired Police personnel. He paid less than the prevailing market
price , however, as regards vacation of the house by existing tenant, he is not perturbed.”

2.Computerization of courtrooms

“An e-court is defined as a paperless court, wherein all the court procedures take place in a
digital format. In an e-court, lawyers need not carry heavy books for the purpose of
announcing the judgment. The verdict can be declared on the laptop screens.”
“In October 2014, an announcement was made by the High Court of Kerala, which stated that
two e-courts would be established in the country.”Recently, the Union Cabinet headed by PM
Narendra Modi, approved the second phase of e-courts mission project. The main aim of the
project is to provide important hardwares and software applications. These applications
would allow the courts to deliver the services to the citizens with the help of internet.”

The Indian Judiciary consists of around 15000 courts throughout the country. The e-courts
project is one of the e-governance projects, which is being implemented in the High courts or
subordinate courts of the country.” But will the concept of e-courts, be successful in India?
Let's have a look at its merits and demerits.”“

Advantages of “e-courts” Information available –

The main advantage of an e-court is that the entire information related to a particular case
would be available online. It would be available to the attorneys, parties and the general
public through the help of internet. The case details of more than 5 crore pending cases are
available online.”
Filing of documents – Registered attorneys can file their case document directly from their
home or office. They do not have to worry about postage, traffic congestion or messenger
services. They can create a docket sheet and update it immediately, when the documents are
filed.”

“Easy access – With the help of internet, the documents of a case can be accessed easily
from anywhere at anytime. Around 25 crore transactions have been already recorded relating
to the online access of court information.”

Better court management – E- courts would help in the computerization of work flow
management in courts. Thus, it would help to create a better court and case management.
Video conferencing facilities would be installed in every court complex. Evidence of
eyewitness, who are unable to attend the court can be recorded through this method.”

“Data keeping – The information would not be misplaced as all the information regarding
the case would be carefully recorded and stored. Data keeping would include maintaining the
records of e-file minute entries, bail orders, warrants etc.”

Security of the witnesses - In many cases, the witnesses are not able to come to the court and
make their statement as the other party is too strong and scares them of the consequences. e-
Courts can help in dealing with such cases.

Demerits of e-courts”

Complicated process - E-courts in India is an endless and complicating process. The process
of e-filing a document is a difficult process. All the evidence cannot be produced in a digital
format.”

Lack of techno legal expertise – Lack of techno legal expertise is the main reason for the
poor status of e-courts in India. With the absence of techno legal expertise, electronic courts
cannot be established in India. The country requires more techno legal e-court centers so that
the project of e-court can achieve success.”

Lack of funds – The project of e-court involves a lot of expenditure. It involves the use of a
lot of computers and infrastructures. In the long run, e-courts may face the issue of lack of
funds.”
Chances of hacking - Hackers are getting stronger with every passing day. The possibility of
e-Courts getting hacked in such a case can not be denied.”

Conclusion
Electronic courts are an important part of the Legal ennoblement of ICT systems in India.
The concept of e-courts comes along with a lot of advantages.”Establishment of e-courts can
bring transparency and accountability in the judicial system as they can bring a lot more
judicial reforms in India while helping in dealing with the long pending cases.”