• Union Minister of State for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal launched the e-VSP portal of Vidhi Sahitya Prakashan of the Legislative Department on July 15.
• It marks a milestone in expanding digital access to legal knowledge by making important judgments of Supreme Court and High Courts, legal journals, reference books and other legal literature in Hindi language accessible online to lawyers, judicial officers, teachers, students and citizens across the world.
• Through this portal, law students, teachers, advocates, researchers, and other stakeholders in the legal fraternity will be able to conveniently access and download legal publications, law journals, and other reference materials published by the Vidhi Sahitya Prakashan from a single digital platform.
What is the role of Vidhi Sahitya Prakashan?
• Vidhi Sahitya Prakashan is a wing of Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice.
• In the year 1958, the Committee of Parliament on Official Languages recommended that arrangements be made to bring out authorised translation of the judgments of the Supreme Court of India and High Courts and this work be entrusted to a central office under the supervision of the Law Department.
• Thereafter, on the recommendations of the Hindi Advisory Committee, a journal wing was set up in the Legislative Department in the year 1968 for promoting use of Hindi in the legal field.
• This journal wing was subsequently named as Vidhi Sahitya Prakashan.
• Initially, translation of judgments of the Supreme Court from English to Hindi and making of short summary and headnotes thereof was started.
• It was published in a monthly Hindi publication of reportable judgments of the Supreme Court in April 1968 named ‘Uchchatama Nyayalaya Nirnaya Patrika’.
• Another monthly publication containing judgments of the High Courts was started in January 1969 named ‘Uchcha Nayayalaya Nirnaya Patrika’.
• In 1987, ‘Uchcha Nyayalaya Nirnaya Patrika’ was bifurcated into two — ‘Uchcha Nyayalaya Civil Nirnaya Patrika’ and ‘Uchcha Nyayalaya Dandik Nirnaya Patrika’.
Vidhi Sahitya Prakashan is responsible for:
a) Publication of law text books in Hindi as reference books for the benefit of lawyers, jurists, law students, litigants and public in general.
b) Sale of Hindi law textbooks and digital editions of central Acts, election manual, Constitution of India and legal glossary, etc.
c) Holding conferences, seminars and book exhibitions and sale counters in district courts, High Courts and law colleges all over India for promotion and propagation of Hindi in the legal field.
• The books are dedicated for promotion and propagation of Hindi in the legal field under the mandate of Article 351 of Constitution of India.
