The National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG), initiated in 2015 as part of the e-Courts Mission Mode Project, aims to monitor, manage, and diminish case backlogs within India’s judicial framework. According to a recent statement from the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), NJDG holds significant potential for enhancing contract enforcement in the country.

The NJDG is an accessible public portal that presents judicial data on crucial performance metrics such as case institution, pendency, and disposal within India’s formal court system. Its goal is to foster transparency, accessibility, and accountability, while bolstering evidence-based judicial reforms.

India’s rapid growth and urbanization have led to a rise in disputes, burdening the judicial system. With over 5 crore cases pending across various courts, and the rate of case disposal falling short of new admissions in many areas, the statement underscores the urgent need for reforms to tackle this escalating backlog.

The NJDG serves as a pivotal tool for reducing pendency through data-driven policy interventions. Although the Grid is already a valuable resource, it must continue to evolve in terms of scope, coverage, and data quality to support informed policymaking across the country’s expansive judicial landscape, CII emphasized.

CII has proposed five specific recommendations to enhance the efficacy of the NJDG as a transformative resource for quicker dispute resolution:

1. **Specific Dispute Categorization**: There is a need for a more precise classification of disputes that correlates with their respective statutes and legal provisions. This will help identify frequently and seldom invoked statutes, assess average resolution times for specific categories, pinpoint delays, and draw lessons from best practices, thereby facilitating targeted policy measures for high-volume, time-consuming, and outdated provisions.

2. **Detailed Case Categorization Framework**: A standardized categorization framework is essential for consistent and comparable data reporting across courts. For example, while the Delhi High Court categorizes cases into around 50 distinct groups (such as Intellectual Property Matters and Cybercrimes), NJDG includes substantially fewer categories. A comprehensive reporting structure in NJDG would improve comparability, tracking of pendency trends, and enable tailored policy responses.

3. **Continuous Data Reporting by All Courts**: It is crucial to ensure that all courts consistently report their data to NJDG. Currently, some courts fail to report case statistics, leading to an underestimate of pendency in certain states. For instance, Tamil Nadu reports only 15 pending commercial cases at the district level on NJDG, while the actual figure is estimated to be around 5,000.

4. **Enhanced Tracking of Procedural Timeframes**: NJDG should expand its scope to include the time taken at each stage of litigation. While it currently tracks stages like admission, hearing, final arguments, and judgment for pending civil and criminal cases, it does not provide data on the length of time cases remain pending at each stage. Implementing time-based metrics would enable a more accurate analysis of judicial delays and inform targeted corrective actions.

5. **Real-Time State Rankings**: To instill a competitive ethos among states, NJDG could offer real-time automated rankings based on the collected data. Rankings could be further differentiated by case types, such as commercial and non-commercial cases. Initially, these rankings could be based on the case-clearance rate (the ratio of case disposals to admissions) averaged over completed months for a calendar year, including retrospective data for the past 5 to 10 years. This approach would encourage states to streamline dispute resolution processes, adopt best practices, and advance judicial reforms.

The government has issued a critical warning to citizens, advising them to refrain from using public Wi-Fi networks for financial transactions and other sensitive activities.

While free Wi-Fi in places like airports, coffee shops, and public spaces is convenient, it poses significant risks to your personal and financial information.

Many public Wi-Fi networks lack proper security, making them easy targets for hackers and scammers.

To enhance digital safety awareness, the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) has released a new reminder as part of its ‘Jaagrookta Diwas’ initiative. The advisory cautions against performing sensitive actions, such as banking or online shopping, over these insecure networks.

CERT-In explains that cybercriminals can easily intercept unsecured connections on public Wi-Fi, which can lead to data theft, financial loss, and even identity fraud. The government urges individuals to avoid making transactions or entering personal information while connected to such networks.

As part of its awareness campaign, CERT-In shares essential safety practices. Citizens are advised to avoid clicking links or attachments from unknown sources, use strong and complex passwords for their online accounts, and regularly back up important files to external drives.

These habits can significantly enhance the protection of personal information. The advisory also emphasizes that even routine activities like checking emails or logging into social media can be risky without proper precautions.

For added safety, using a secure Virtual Private Network (VPN) and avoiding autofill options in web browsers is recommended.

CERT-In is the national agency responsible for incident response and cybersecurity in India, operating under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. Its role, as mandated by the Information Technology Act, 2000, includes collecting, analyzing, and sharing information about cyber incidents, providing emergency measures, and coordinating response efforts across sectors.

IDFC FIRST Bank, a private lender, reported a consolidated net profit of ₹295.6 crore for the fourth quarter (Q4) of FY25, marking a decline of nearly 60% from ₹731.9 crore during the same quarter in FY24. For the entire financial year FY25, the net profit was ₹1,490 crore, almost a 50% drop compared to ₹2,942 crore in the previous year, according to their stock exchange filing.

Net Interest Income (NII) saw an increase of 9.8% year-over-year, rising from ₹4,469 crore in Q4 FY24 to ₹4,907 crore in Q4 FY25. For the full fiscal year FY25, NII grew by 17.3% compared to the prior year.

The bank reported an 8.7% increase in core operating income, moving from ₹6,079 crore in Q4 FY24 to ₹6,609 crore in Q4 FY25. Overall, operating income for FY25 rose 16.7% year-on-year.

Customer deposits surged by 25.2%, climbing from ₹1,93,753 crore on March 31, 2024, to ₹2,42,543 crore by March 31, 2025. Retail deposits experienced a growth of 26.4%, increasing from ₹1,51,343 crore to ₹1,91,268 crore within the same timeframe. CASA deposits also rose by 24.8%, from ₹94,768 crore to ₹1,18,237 crore.

The bank’s gross Non-Performing Assets (NPA) improved by 7 basis points quarter-on-quarter, decreasing from 1.94% as of December 31, 2024, to 1.87% by March 31, 2025. Meanwhile, net NPA increased marginally by 1 basis point, moving from 0.52% to 0.53% in the same period.

According to the filing, loans and advances grew by 20.4%, rising from ₹2,00,965 crore to ₹2,41,926 crore. The gross slippage for Q4 FY25 stood at ₹2,175 crore, a slight decrease from ₹2,192 crore in Q3 FY25, down by ₹17 crore.