'Guilty By Default’ Glitch: Supreme Court Asks E-committee Plea For Changes To E-courts Portal
The bench directed the registry to forward the complete set of papers to the Supreme Court's e-committee.
By Sumit Saxena
Published : August 31, 2026 at 7:45 PM IST
|Updated : August 31, 2026 at 9:04 PM IST
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday asked its e-committee to consider a plea seeking changes to the e-courts mechanism/ portal for compounding offences processed electronically.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana was hearing a plea filed by Prabhjot Singh Dhillon through advocate Prabhas Bajaj. Senior advocate Maninder Singh represented Dhillon before the bench.
Singh contended that the recommendations made by the High Court have remained under consideration and that changes to the portal are necessary for better functioning of e-courts.
He said that now, with electronic surveillance being brought into law, compounding is carried out on the police portal, but after 60 days it gets transferred to the e-courts portal.
Singh said only one insertion is needed: that it can be compounded and it will be reflected as not guilty. “The high court recommendation in 2024 was twice approved by the committee. They said it is under consideration…." he said.
The bench replied, "We appreciate your concern," and stated that this entire writ petition would be placed before the e-committee, stressing that the petition is of paramount importance for the better functioning of e-courts.
The bench directed the registry to forward the complete set of papers to the Supreme Court's e-committee and requested the e-committee to consider the issue raised by the petitioner and endeavour to make the necessary correction on the portal.
The plea sought a writ of mandamus directing the Supreme Court's e-Committee and the Delhi Traffic Police to implement modifications to the V-Court and Delhi Traffic Police (DTP) portals for online disposal of traffic challans, bringing these systems into conformity with the law. The plea also seeks compliance with directions issued in binding judicial orders, including orders by the Delhi High Court via order dated 27.09.2024 and judgment dated 21.10.2024.
"The Petitioner is constrained to prefer the present Writ Petition before this Hon’ble Court inter alia for the reason that the Virtual Court (V-Court) portal and system designed and function under the supervision and directions of the e-Committee of this Hon’ble Court and, further, the present functioning of the said portals is resulting in serious violation of fundamental rights of citizens, by compelling them to enter a plea of ‘guilty’ while compounding traffic offences, without their knowledge, understanding or informed consent," said the plea.
The plea said that the most significant and fundamental issue with the V-Courts system is that for compoundable offences, the V-Court's online payment system incorrectly treats a fine payment as a plea of guilt, leading to a conviction, which contradicts the settled legal principles of compounding of an offence.
"In other words, while compounding offences on the V-Courts website, citizens are unwittingly entering a plea of guilty, leading to their conviction, without even knowing the consequences of such an action," it added.
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