e-Courts, e-Filing and Virtual Hearings

In one line

An electronic record satisfies a legal requirement of writing, an electronic signature satisfies a requirement of signature, and that is what makes filing and hearing a case online possible at all.

In exam wording: sections 4 and 5 of the Information Technology Act 2000 confer legal recognition on electronic records and electronic signatures respectively, and the e-Courts project of the Government of India, implemented under the e-Committee of the Supreme Court, provides the infrastructure for case information, electronic filing, virtual courts and hearings by video conferencing.

Why an Act of 2000 is the foundation

Every legal system runs on two requirements that predate computers: that certain things be in writing and that documents be signed. Neither is satisfied by a file on a screen unless a statute says so.

Section 4, legal recognition of electronic records. Where any law provides that information or any other matter shall be in writing or in the typewritten or printed form, then, notwithstanding anything contained in such law, that requirement shall be deemed to have been satisfied if the information or matter is:

• (a) rendered or made available in an electronic form; and
• (b) accessible so as to be usable for a subsequent reference.

Read clause (b) carefully, because it is the condition students omit. An electronic record does not satisfy the requirement merely by existing. It must be accessible so as to be usable for a subsequent reference, which is why a format nobody can open later, or a document that cannot be retrieved, is not a record for this purpose.

Section 5, legal recognition of signatures. Where any law provides that information or any matter shall be authenticated by affixing the signature, or that a document shall be signed or bear the signature of a person, then, notwithstanding anything in such law, that requirement is deemed satisfied if the information or matter is authenticated by means of an electronic signature affixed in such manner as may be prescribed by the Central Government.

Explanation to section 5: "signed", with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions, means, with reference to a person, affixing of his hand written signature or any mark on any document, and "signature" is construed accordingly.

The word that changed: digital to electronic

This is a small point of legislative history worth knowing, because it is the difference between the Act as printed in 2000 and the Act as it stands.

As enacted, section 5 was headed "Legal recognition of digital signatures" and spoke of a digital signature. Section 2 of the Information Technology (Amendment) Act 2008, Act 10 of 2009, substituted the words "electronic signature" for "digital signature" in a table of provisions, of which entry 2 is "section 5 and its marginal heading".