What happened

Odisha’s implementation of the e-Courts Mission Mode Project (Phase III) is advancing through decentralised execution under the Orissa High Court for district and subordinate courts. Government information reports extensive ICT provisioning, large-scale digitisation of legacy records, growth of paperless operations using PDF-based tools, migration of district court websites to the S3WAAS platform, upgrading of court establishments from CIS 3.0 to CIS 4.0, and expansion of e-filing and virtual hearings.

Background and earlier position

The e-Courts Mission Mode Project is implemented across India in phases to strengthen the use of Information and Communication Technology in the judicial system. The Department of Justice implements the project in coordination with the eCommittee of the Supreme Court of India, with High Courts playing a key role in decentralized implementation through their jurisdictional control over district and subordinate courts.

What changed now

In Odisha under Phase III (2023–2027), the government reports: (i) ICT hardware equipped in a large majority of courts and court complexes; (ii) digitisation of legacy case records for the High Court and district judiciary; (iii) a shift of multiple courts to paperless mode using PDF-based tools; (iv) migration of all 30 district court websites to S3WAAS; (v) migration of 320 court establishments from Case Information System (CIS) 3.0 to CIS 4.0; (vi) consumption of FIR and chargesheet data through the Inter-operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS) platform since 1 January 2026; (vii) implementation of e-Filing 3.0 across all courts with a reported cumulative number of e-filed cases; and (viii) enabling of video conferencing facilities with reported virtual hearings conducted till 30 June 2026. For citizen access in remote areas, 184 eSewa Kendras have been set up across the state. The government also reports tripartite arrangements for fund sanction among the Orissa High Court, the Government of Odisha, and the Government of India to expand digital court services.