A Study on Resolving Disputes in Trial Courts Through online Dispute Resolution in India

Résumé

Byzantine methods and cumbersome process clog the approximately 672 district courts and their subordinate courts, which is the first door to access for violation of rights for the common citizenry. India is an emerging economy slated to become one of the topmost economies in the world in future years. Having an overwhelmingly large population of smartphone users, which is almost 55% of the population with an average age of population at 28, it can only be estimated that the numbers will grow exponentially. One of the benchmarks for tracking the growth of a democratic polity along with emerging markets is the quality of justice delivery system. The justice delivery system in India with the courts being in the eye of the storm, are often harshly criticised for working up in a snail’s pace the main reasons being paucity of infrastructure and judges and a burgeoning population of litigants. The last reason is substantiated by the fact that majority of people repose their constant faith in institutional adjudication of disputes. So the question is how dispute resolution can be time bound? Now considering the above facts and putting them in perspective, i.e., a young working population with smart phones having access to justice to resolve their personal or professional feuds, or be it a company, body of persons, or the biggest litigant of all, the government, if in certain criminal, civil proceeding, can settle the dispute having an online access to court process it will help immensely in settling disputes and claims on time. The authors herein propose to suggest measures as to how to implement the procedure and process to address and effectively implement the online mechanism in trial courts involving all concerned and interest parties and usher a new vista in justice delivery system.