The Kerala High Court held that if the electronic signatures affixed to the plaint and vakalath in a suit complied with the Electronic Filing Rules for Courts (Kerala), 2021, then the Courts cannot refuse to accept it merely because the Court does not have resources to verify the said signatures. [2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 488]

Justice Easwaran S. issued the direction in an original petition which has challenged the refusal of the Principal Munsiff Court to number a suit since the Court did not have any resource to verify the electronic signature of the parties in the Vakalath. 

The petitioner relied on Rule 8(2) of the Electronic Filing Rules for Courts (Kerala), 2021 and submitted the provision permits vakalaths, affidavits and other documents required to be signed, executed, attested or authenticated to be filed electronically, provided they are signed and authenticated in accordance with the Information Technology Act, 2000.

The petitioner further pointed to an audit trail which shoed the chronological record of the execution process, including OTP generation, OTP verification, electronic signing, device/ browser particulars, IP particulars and completion of the document. 

The High Court accepted the submission and found that the requirements under Rule 8(2) had been complied with. 

"This Court finds that this is a fit case, where a direction is required to be issued to the Principal Munsiff Court, Ernakulam, to receive the plaint with filing No.947/2026 and proceed to number the same, since the requirements of Rule 8(2) of the Electronic Filing Rules for Courts (Kerala), 2021, stands complied with." the Court held. 

The Court thus directed the Principal Munsiff Court to number the suit within three days and disposed of the petition. 

Case Title: Aneesh v Akhil Das

Case No: OP(C) 2521/ 2026

Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 488

Counsel for Petitioner: Hamzath Ali V.K, Ayisha Afrin A.V.K, Muhammad Shameel K, Abdulla Fuhad K, Megha Cyriac, Helan Paul, Ayisha Thasleema N.P

Click Here To Read/ Download Judgment