Rajasthan High Court Issues Notice On Plea For Mandatory Use Of A4 Size Paper With Double Sided Printing In All Courts

A Division bench comprising of Justices Sandeep Mehta and Devendra Kachhawaha has issued notice to the Registrar General, Rajasthan High Court, returnable within four weeks.

The PIL has been filed by law student, Akriti Agarwal, through Advocate Sumit Singhal against an indefinite combination of both Legal Size Paper and A4 Size Paper being used in different courts. She has stated that using legal size paper is a British colonial practice and has been making justice only costly and inaccessible.

"This disorganized and unreasonable practice of using different papers at different places is not just creating hindrance for people in accessing justice both inside and outside the courts, but it also renders the entire legal system non-uniform and arbitrary," she has submitted.

It is submitted that the Supreme Court has already implemented the use of A4 size paper with double-sided printing.

The Petitioner has contended that an "exclusively designed size of paper" has rendered the legal system "unfriendly and non-accessible" and is opposed to the established principle of Equality before Law under Article 14 of the Constitution. Further, it is harmful for the environment.

"It is acting as an unnecessary barrier in the dispensation and administration of justice. The prime purpose of any legal system is for people to avail easy and speedy justice and not to remain stuck within the shackles of unjustified formality of using different size papers. Essentially, courts are for people, people are not for courts," the plea states.

Note: Rule-130, Rule 745-C and Rule 886 of the Rajasthan High Court Rules, 1952 in respect of High Court proceeding and The General (Civil and Criminal) Rules 2018 in respect of subordinate court proceeding currently mandates the use of Petition paper for the submission of pleading before the High Court which in common parlance is known as 'Legal Sheet'. The rule further specifies that the paper should be printed/written on one side only.

A similar plea is pending consideration before the Karnataka High Court.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court and the High Courts of Calcutta, Kerala, Sikkim and Tripura have already permitted the use of A4 size papers, with print on both the sides, in a bid to minimize paper consumption.

Case Title: Akriti Agarwal v. Registrar General, Rajasthan High Court

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