100 days of CJI DY Chandrachud: 14,209 cases disposed of, Paperless Registry, RTI Portal and more

Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud completed his 100th day as the Chief Justice of India on Thursday..While 100 days might be a short period in his relatively long tenure of 2 years, the top court has witnessed some key development during these three months. During his tenure, 14,209 cases were disposed of by the top court. The registry of the apex court also evolved into a completely paperless one. Pertinently, the Court launched Electronic-Supreme Court Reports (e-SCR) project by which 34,000 judgments of the top court became available online for free.Key initiatives - The Electronic-Supreme Court Reports (e-SCR) project that made available 34,000 judgments free of cost online;- 3,132 judgments translated into Indian languages (Hindi- 2952, Tamil – 52, Malayalam- 29, Telugu – 28, Odia -21, Kannada- 17, Marathi-14, Assamese & Punjabi- 4 each, Nepali, Gujarati & Urdu- 3 each, Garo and Khasi – 1 each);- Launch of the Advocate Appearance Slip Portal to do away with manual filing of appearance by advocates-on-record thereby saving paper.- Providing soft copies of paperbooks, and the top court's PIL section using technology towards electronic processing of petitions;- Readying the launch of the second version of the electronic-filing (e-filing) software to enable advocates-on-record, litigants and other stakeholders to file fresh cases, applications, documents etc via online mode;-Implementation of e-Office and E-HRMS modules in certain administrative sections in the Supreme Court of India;- Continuing video-conference hearings in hybrid mode and live-streaming of Constitution Bench cases;- Constituting the Supreme Court Committee on Accessibility, chaired by Justice S Ravindra Bhat, whose broad objective is to conduct an accessibility audit of the top court's premises and functioning;- Launch of a health and wellness centre (gym) for the staff for Yoga and cardio exercises;- Training sessions in stress management, communication and presentation skills, organisational behaviour & ethics and value in public governance, critical thinking, problem solving and decision making for the officers and staff members of the registry; - Decision to install an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) in the CGHS Wellness Centre in the Supreme Court;- Implementation of e-Filing 3.0 in the High Courts of Manipur, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh and district courts of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Tripura, Uttarakhand, and Bihar;- Organisng a sensitization module for the judiciary on the LGBTIQA+ community;- E-Committee website launched in Bengali;- Based on the proposal of the E-Committee, the Union Finance Minister announced ₹7000 Crores budgetary outlay for phase 3 of the e-Courts project.[BREAKING] Supreme Court Registry communications to go paperless; 72,000 pages of paper saved by online lawyer appearance.Reforms on administrative side- Formation of the Case Categorisation Advisory Committee, chaired by Justice PS Narasimha, to revisiting the existing framework related to the categorisation of judicial matters;- Formation of the AI assisted Legal Translation Advisory Committee, chaired by Justice Abhay S Oka to assess and monitor the progress of and suggest measures to further enhance the usage of Artificial Intelligence tools for translating judicial records and judgments into various Indian languages;- Directing difference sections of the registry to prepare an annual calendar to enhance efficiency;- Implementing a uniform email policy and guidelines for registry officials so their work is made paperless, and there is proper archival of information etc.- Organised hackathon inviting suggestions, ideas to improve working of registryOn the judicial side- Listing only fresh and after-notice matters on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays, and only regular matters for final disposal on Wednesdays and Thursdays;- Increasing number of cases listed before the Registrar Court from 40 to 80 per day;- Disposing of 14,209 cases during the period from November 9 till date (13,764 new cases were filed during this period); - Appointment of eight new judges to the Supreme Court;Other initiatives- Launch of the online Right to Information online portal on November 24 on which around 450 online RTI applications have been received so far;- Initiating steps for the introduction and implementation of a uniform, reliable and secure methodology for identifying and citing decisions in Supreme Court of India, referred to as the Neutral Citations System;- Plans underway to change dress code for ushers, chauffeurs and other non-clerical staff, so as to shed colonial attire..ConferencesSoon after being sworn in (November 9, 2022), CJI Chandrachud chaired working sessions of the Chief Justices’ Conference.For the first time since its establishment in 1950, the Supreme Court observed its foundation day. Chief Justice of Singapore (CJS) Sundaresh Menon graced the occasion and delivered the first annual lecture on the topic The Role of the Judiciary in a Changing World,Recently, a delegation of 23 US State Court judges also visited the Supreme Court and met the CJI to discuss issues related to judicial functioning.