'Virtual Courts' launched for Traffic eChallan under eCourts Project by Tripura High Court

The ‘Virtual Court Web Portal’ as developed by the eCommittee of the Supreme Court of India has been implemented in the State of Tripura w.e.f. June 1, 2022.

The service facilitates online payment of fines by the citizens in cases relating to eChallans arising out of Traffic violations in the area within the jurisdiction of the Superintendent of Police (Traffic), West Tripura on a pilot basis.

The High Court of Tripura has designated the Court of the Judicial Magistrate First Class, Court No. 1, Agartala, West Tripura as the ‘Virtual Court’ for the aforementioned purpose.

“The novel concept of Virtual Court has been introduced under the eCourts Project to deal with petty Traffic offence cases. Virtual Court is a concept, aimed at eliminating the presence of litigant or lawyer in the Court and for adjudication of cases on a virtual platform. The concept has been evolved in order to efficiently utilise Court resources and to provide the litigants with an effective avenue to settle petty disputes,” stated the press release issued by the High Court.

While emphasizing the benefits of Virtual Courts the press release stated, “Virtual Court is administered by a Judge over a virtual electronic platform whose jurisdiction may extend to the entire State and function 24x7. Neither the litigant nor the Judge would have to physically visit a Court for effective adjudication and resolution.”

“The Virtual Court is meant for disposal of petty Traffic challan cases where there is pro-active admission of guilt by the Traffic violator on receipt of the summons in electronic form.” it added.

The Digital Challans generated through the eChallan application will be sent in digital form to the designated Virtual Court and all the Challans for the given day will reflect in the dashboard of the Virtual Court Judge.

“The Court, as per Section 208 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 will issue summons to the Traffic violator via SMS notification in the Registered Mobile Number of the violator. The SMS notification will contain a web link by clicking on which the violator will be redirected to the Virtual Court Web Portal,” read the press release.

The fine amount paid by the violator will be deposited directly in the e-Treasury as ‘Government Receipt’ through the eGRAS portal of the Finance Department, Government of Tripura under the appropriate Head of Account of ‘Fines and Forfeitures’.

Upon successful online payment of the fine by the violator in the Virtual Court portal, an Acknowledge will be generated indicating the disposal of the traffic challan case registered against the violator. The Acknowledgement will be downloadable or printable by the violator.