Supreme Court to Start Sending Case Updates via WhatsApp

Chief Justice DY Chandrachud has introduced a new initiative in which WhatsApp will be integrated with the Supreme Court’s IT services.

Under this initiative, both Advocates on Record and individuals representing themselves in court cases will receive key case updates via WhatsApp directly in their inboxes. The Chief Justice believes this could have a ‘big bang impact’ on communication and information sharing within the legal system.

The Chief Justice explained that this new initiative will allow Advocates on Record and individuals representing themselves to receive automated WhatsApp messages about:

These messages will be sent when cases are successfully filed, providing real-time updates. The system will also alert users to any objections raised by the court registry regarding their filings. Additionally, the registry will send out court schedules to all attorneys as soon as they are released. Orders and judgments posted on the Supreme Court’s website will also be delivered via WhatsApp.

The announcement was made by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, who said,

“In the 75th year, Supreme Court launches an initiative to strengthen access to justice…Supreme Court announces integration of WhatsApp messaging with ICT services…advocates to receive automated messages about the filing of cases.. all members of the bar will get causelists as and when published…the number transmits one way communication…This will bring a significant change in our working habits and will go a long way in saving paper,” the CJI added.

He also mentioned that sending case updates via WhatsApp will allow more lawyers to engage with the Supreme Court and enable people from distant regions to access court-related information across the nation.

“We are also migrating all our services into Meghraj cloud 2.0, which is the cloud infra created by National Informatics Centre (NIC) and we are moving Supreme Court and e-courts project as well. Now, all courts can go online as earlier there were only restrictions. The data is all preserved on servers in India,” the CJI remarked.

With Chief Justice Chandrachud at the helm, the Supreme Court has been actively advancing the digital transformation of its judicial processes. The Government has also earmarked Rs. 7,000 crore for the e-court initiative.

Justice Chandrachud shared the Supreme Court’s official WhatsApp number (87687676) and made it clear that it will not be used for receiving messages or calls.