The Bar Council of Delhi opposes the centralization of 34 NI Act Digital Courts at Rouse Avenue, citing logistical issues, pendency rise, and access-to-justice concerns for lawyers and litigants.
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NEW DELHI: In a strong appeal to the Hon’ble Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, D.K. Upadhyaya, the Bar Council of Delhi has urged reconsideration of the recent move to shift all 34 NI Act Digital Courts from various district court complexes to Rouse Avenue Court, New Delhi.
The letter, signed by senior members including K.C. Mittal (Former Chairman) and other Bar leaders, highlights that this centralization has created confusion, inefficiency, and inconvenience for both lawyers and litigants.
These 34 courts were originally created in 2020 across 11 different district courts including Tis Hazari, Rohini, Dwarka, Saket, and Patiala House to ensure faster and more accessible justice under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act (cheque bounce cases).
At that time, Delhi was facing an overwhelming backlog of over 3.7 lakh criminal cases, and the High Court had introduced these paperless courts to resolve cheque dishonour cases quickly and locally.
However, with all the digital courts now moved to Rouse Avenue, lawyers have expressed deep concerns. The letter mentions that Rouse Avenue is already overcrowded, has space constraints, and lacks chambers for lawyers. Moreover, it’s a part of the Central District, which causes jurisdictional conflicts for other district court matters.
The Bar Council claims this move was made without proper consultation with Bar Associations. According to them, such administrative decisions should involve discussions with local advocates, especially because these directly impact their daily work and access to courtrooms.
A major concern raised in the letter is the growing pendency of Section 138 cases. Media reports suggest that the total pendency across the 11 districts has now crossed 4.5 lakh cases. Despite statutory mandates to dispose of these cases within six months, delays of 10 to 12 months have become common due to procedural inefficiencies in the new centralized system.
The Bar Council explains that earlier, after a complaint under Section 138 was filed, the case would be listed quickly, often in the same district where the offence occurred. Now, under the new system, the case is filed online but there is a delay in scrutiny, listing, and issuing of summons. Lawyers say that the digital platform lacks transparency, and they are not notified when cases are listed, forcing them to keep checking manually.
Additionally, physical files still have to be submitted before proceedings begin, defeating the very purpose of going “paperless.” They also point out that notices and summons under the new BNS (Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita) rules take three to four months for issuance, further delaying the start of trial.
Overall, the Bar Council notes that a simple NI Act case may now take nearly a year before actual hearings even begin.
Another operational difficulty is the dual appearance burden. Lawyers now have to attend one leg of the case at Rouse Avenue and another at the district court where the accused resides or where evidence is retained. This increases travel, coordination issues, and expenses for all parties.
The Bar Council stated that “the old system was more explicit and expeditious than the digital mode” and urged the judiciary to consider restoring the original setup, where digital courts were spread across various districts.
Concluding the letter, the Bar leaders humbly requested the Chief Justice to restore the 11 Digital NI Act Courts to their respective district courts to better serve the purpose for which they were established.
They expressed their full support and cooperation for any measures that would ensure faster justice delivery and improve working conditions for lawyers.
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