1 Reportable IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA CIVIL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION Writ Petition (Civil) No 155 of 2023 M P High Court Bar Association ... Petitioner Versus Union of India & Ors ... Respondent J U D G M E N T Dr Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, CJI 1 Thirty-nine Debt Recovery Tribunals 1 and five Debt Recovery Appellate Tribunals 2 have been constituted under the Recovery of Debts and Bankruptcy Act 1993 3. 2 The Department of Financial Services in the Union Ministry of Finance 1 “DRTs” 2 “DRATs” 3 “1993 Act” 9 exercise in the judicial system. NIC is equipped with a robust team of officials. The Director General of NIC shall constitute a team to monitor the progress of e -filing in the DRTs/DRATs so that any difficulties which are encountered can be suitably addressed on a real time basis. The e - filing module must be upgraded with periodical dev elopments. 16 The second aspect which needs to be borne in mind relates to the help desks which have been set up at the DRTs/DRATs. 17 Mr Shyam Gopal has adverted to a notice dated 22 February 2023 issued by the DRTs for Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Ernakulam and by the DRAT at Delhi indicating the arrangements which have been made for setting up help desks or, as the case may be, providing technical assistance. 18 In this regard, we would recommend to the Union Government that in addition to setting up held desks, it would be appropriate if e -sewa kendras are set up at all the centres of the DRTs or, as the case may be, DRATs to facilitate e -filing of cases and provide a one -step solution which encompasses all the e -services at the DRTs/DRATs. The e -s ewa kendras should have adequate equipment in the form of computers and 10 scanners, together with robust internet connectivity so as to facilitate the process of e -filing. In this context, a Standard Operating Procedure 8 must be prepared by the Department of Financial Services in consultation with NIC, setting out the facilities at every e -sewa kendras. This would be in line with the mission of the e -Committee of the Supreme Court of India for providing e -sewa kendras at court establishments across the country. The setting up of e -sewa kendras would provide access to justice to lawyers and litigants. The Department of Financial Services would be at liberty to review the set up periodically and to take appropriate decisions in that regard. 19 Most of the specific grievances which have been urged by Mr Siddharth R Gupta stand assuaged in terms of the above directions. 20 The digital divide between men and women in India is a stark reality: i. The National Sample Survey Office carried out a Multiple Indicator Survey covering the entire country in its 78th round. The report, 9 inter alia, looked at the performance of persons between 15 -29 years in performing 9 different ICT skills. It concludes that the percentage of 8 “SOP” 9 Multiple Indicator Survey in India: NSS 78 th Round (2020-2021) , The National Sample Survey Office, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India (March 2023) 11 men who could successfully perform different ICT tasks is more than the percentage of women. For example, while 19.4% of men of age 15 years and above could send emails with attached files, only 11.5% of women of age 15 years and above could perform the same task. ii. The National Family Health Survey -5 data 10 for the period between 2019 to 2021 measured the proportion of men and women (15-49 years of age) who have ever used the internet. The survey reveals that only one in three women in India (33.3%) have ever used the internet, compared to more than half of men (51.2%). The gender divide in rural India is more pronoun ced, with men (43.4%) being about twice as likely as women (24.6%) to have used the internet. iii. The GSMA Mobile Gender Gap Report 2022 11 found that from 2020 to 2021, the mobile internet gender gap has widened to 41% in South Asia. In India, men’s mobile in ternet use increased from 45% to 51% while women’s mobile internet use remained flat at 30%. The representations by the Bar Associations on specific difficulties faced in the process of e -filing, and the reports prepared by the Chairpersons of the DRATs and the Presiding Officers of the DRTs 10 National Family Health Survey (NFHS -5) 2019-2021, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India (March 2022) 11 Matthew Shanahan, The Mobile Gender Gap Report 2022, GSMA (June 2022) 12 should be cognizant of digital exclusion on the basis of gender, while submitting their respective representations/ reports. The help desks can consider providing a dedicated portal to address the grievances of female litigants. However, we are not inclined to accept the submission that there should be a gener al exception to female practitioners and litigants. There is no reason to postulate that there is a gender divide in one’s inherent ability to use technology. 21 For the above reasons, we have issued directions for attending to the genuine grievances of the members of the Bar in regard to the availability of facilities that would ensure that in the adoption of e- filing, no segment of the citizens is unable to access justice. Properly implemented, the above suggestion s will meet the purpose. 22 The exercise which has been directed to be carried out in the above terms should be completed within a period of three months from the date of this order. This would not preclude the Department of Financial Services f rom making such further arrangements as are found necessary to deal with an emergent situation in any of the DRTs/DRATs in various parts of the country. In a country as diverse like India, a one- size -fits approach cannot be adopted in all circumstances and 13 situational modifications can be suitably adopted according to exigencies. 23 The petition shall stand disposed of in the above terms. 24 Pending application, if any, stands disposed of. ..…..…....…........……………….…........CJI. [Dr Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud] …..…..…....…........……………….…........J. [Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha] …..…..…....…........……………….…........J. [J B Pardiwala] New Delhi; March 29, 2023 -S-