Filing hard copies counterproductive to aim of reducing carbon footprint: Justice DY Chandrachud

The Supreme Court's Justice DY Chandrachud on Friday emphasised the importance of digitisation of court records going hand-in-hand with the endeavours sought be achieved by e-filing..Justice Chandrachud, who is also the Chairperson of the Supreme Court E-committee, said that digitisation would be a lost cause if advocates file cases using hard copies which then have to be digitised by court staff.“It is counterproductive to our aim of reducing the carbon footprint,” he said..The judge was speaking at the Orissa High Court's observation of “One Year of Record Room Digitization Centre" where he appreciated the High Court for truly having been at the forefront in implementing initiatives of the E-committee.“To me, the mark of this one year exhibits a period of continuous effort, hard work and perseverance towards institutionalising digitisation in courts.”He said that what was more important than framing policy, was sustained and continued implementation of the project.“There are lots of ribbons that we have cut during our tenures as judges, but I'm not quite sure how many of those ribbons justify what has happened over a period of time,” he remarked..Justice Chandrachud further noted that digitising courts was not an end in itself.“It's a means to achieve meaningful impact such as the carbon footprint, and putting it to educational and literary use to ensure proceedings are accessible to all stakeholders.”.He also recalled a few reluctant faces amongst the Bar when a Constitution Bench decided to be a "complete green bench", which would mean that there would be no physical papers, documents, or pleadings used by the bench.“I noticed a few reluctant faces amongst the Bar...I was able to relate to them. As humans, we tend to fear the unknown. We are often content with the system, however inept that system may be.”In this regard, he emphasised that we must embrace the unknown..[Read our coverage of his speech].[Read press release]