Rabindranath Tagore had once sued a shopkeeper for failing to supply shoes according to his specifications. Want to know who won? Check the high court website later this year.

The court administration has taken up a multi-phase project to digitise case histories. In the first phase, the history of 60,000 cases will be burnt on compact discs (CDs). The history of 20,000 cases is already on CDs.

The CDs will be available in the high court library. Synopses of the case histories will be uploaded on the court’s website. Those who want to find out about the cases in detail can request for copies of the CDs. It hasn’t been decided whether a fee will be charged for the service.

“Maintaining paper records of so many cases is impossible, especially because space is scarce in the high court building. We have, hence, undertaken the programme to preserve the records of 60,000 cases on CDs,” said L.K. Seal, the secretary to the chief justice of the high court.

The CDs will contain the records of historic cases fought in the lower courts. Cases involving freedom fighters has been given preference while burning the CDs.

“For example, the documents of the case in which Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das represented Aurobindo Ghosh have been kept in a museum at Alipore Judges’ Court. The case history will be preserved on a CD,” said a senior officer of the high court.

The court administration is also trying to improve communication with the 202 lower courts across the state.

“The Supreme Court recently ordered the high courts to utilise computers to help people get justice. Development of a communication system between the high court and the lower courts is vital. We are conducting a special training programme for the subordinate court judges,” added the officer.

But certified copies of judgments will not be distributed through the Internet in near future, according to him.

“The Supreme Court had desired that the high courts undertake a programme to issue copies of judgments to litigants through the Internet. Implementing such a project is tough. At present, we do not have the infrastructure to carry out such a scheme.”

The 10-storeyed third building of the high court is on the verge of completion. “The ground to the fourth floors will be ready by July. Plenty of space will be available in the new building to set up a computer department, which would solve many other problems,” said another officer of the court.