Indus Valley Times

By Swagatika Bhutia

Bhubaneswar, Aug. 16: The outcomes of implementation of Integrated Legal Monitoring System (ILMS) has been very impressive for various departments in Odisha and led to reduction of pendency of court cases.

The positive impact of the digital initiative on the school and mass education department has been quite significant.  Before the roll out of this system, the department wrestled with the challenge of 10 cases on an average each day with the count surging to around 80,000 cases in 2017. By the end of April 2022, the pendency in court cases had notably reduced to 32,654, a decline of 59 per cent.

“As the number of cases increases, a lot of the vital function of the department gets affected when a lot of resources, time and manpower is delegated to look into the matter. However, the implementation of ILMS scripted a turnaround story,” said Tusharakanti Behera, state electronics and information technology (E&IT) minister.

According to E&IT secretary Manoj Mishra, ILMS has the potential to tackle an immense backlog of cases. It can seamlessly fit into the work module of any government department or state run corporation.

“The unique takeaways of this system are fast-tracking the litigation process through its control sheet, timely notification, alert system and improved coordination with the parties involved through smart monitoring. As a result, it reduces the risk of contempt of court with the concomitant savings in time and resources which can be better deployed for the vital functioning of the government,” said Mr Mishra.

The Judicial system in India is facing considerable inventory of cases. According to figures by the National Judicial Data Grid, 42.4 million cases are pending at different courts, and in over 40 per cent of these accumulated cases, a government department or office is party to litigations.