IBEX NEWS, Shimla.
The Chief Justice, High Court of Himachal Pradesh, Justice M.S. Ramachandra Rao, today inaugurated Virtual Courts of Mobile Traffic Magistrates for disposal of Motor Vehicle Challans, in five districts i.e. Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Solan, Sirmaur, and Kinnaur, through video conferencing, in the august presence of Justice Vivek Singh Thakur, Justice Ajay Mohan Goel, Justice, Justice Jyotsna Rewal Dua, Justice Satyen Vaidya, Justice Sushil Kukreja and Justice Virender Singh.
The Virtual Courts are aimed at moving towards paperless Courts and reducing footfalls in the Courts. The road map for creating the Virtual Court for disposal of Motor Vehicle Challans was prepared in the year 2019, and first Virtual Court was made functional at Shimla on 30.12.2021. The Establishment of Virtual Court of Mobile Traffic Magistrate, Shimla, has yielded fruitful result as a total number of 1932 cases have been disposed of through Virtual Court Application and an amount of Rs.39,84,250/- has been collected as fine.
Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Justice said that access to the justice is one of the most fundamental tenets of the Constitution. Therefore, to ensure that such access is not diminished and the said ideal is not jeopardized, adequate infrastructure needs to be provided to the Courts. The Chief Justice stressed the need of correlation between access to justice and physical and digital infrastructure.
The Chief Justice further said that the inauguration of Virtual Courts of five districts shall benefit the public at large. Now the litigants have not to travel from far flung areas for the disposal of their challans and also reduce the pendency of the Motor Vehicle Challans in the Courts. The Chief Justice expressed the hope that the institution of Judiciary will keep the purpose, for which it is formed and will continue to serve with the same zeal and ardour.
The Registrars, Director H.P. Judicial Academy, Central Project Coordinator, and officers and officials of High Court Registry remained present on the occasion. The District & Sessions Judges and other Judicial Officers of the concerned District Courts joined virtually.