Kerala HC To Conduct Hearings During Summer Vacation Via Video Conferencing; Prescribes Procedure For E-Filing [Read Notifications]

The vacation sitting of the Court will be as per the High Court Notification dated April 7, subject to the modification that the Single Judges hearing Bail and Writ Petitions may hold sittings from Monday to Friday, if so required.

The High Court has also issued detailed guidelines to be followed during e-filing and video conferencing.

Filing Procedure

• All petitions, applications, etc. will be sent to the Registry via email with a memo stating reasons for the urgent hearing. A copy will also be sent to the State Government or Central Government wherever applicable.
• The email shall be sent between 9 AM and 12 PM only, on all working days from Monday to Friday. Any case filed beyond this time will not be entertained by the Registry and will stand discarded.
• The filings will contain an undertaking given by the Counsel to the effect that he will produce the physical copies of the documents, along with necessary fees and charges applicable, when the court registry resumes its normal functioning;
• All petitions and annexure/exhibits shall be sent as a single PDF document. Additionally, the head note as prescribed will be separately sent as a Word document. The PDF document containing the entire pleadings, and the word document containing the head note, will be sent in a single email. Multiple emails will not be accepted.
• The Counsel will also fill up the details of the individual case in the prescribed format in soft copy (A4 size paper) and forward the same to the Registry in word/ open-office/rich text format.

The High Court has cautioned that in case the above stipulations are not followed, the Registry will treat the case as defective.

With regard to Video Conferencing, the court has asked all participants to refrain from using any recording device to record the proceedings and strict action may be taken against those who publish or share Court proceedings without the written permission from the registry. Further, formal attire and other courtroom etiquettes have to be ensured at all times.

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