Justice Chandrachud, Chairperson Of SC E-Committee, Confers With HC Judges On Video-Conferencing & Web Hosting Of Proceedings

In its endeavour to ensure that urgent matters are heard promptly during the period of the lockdown occasioned by the outbreak of Covid - 19 and that parties are not required to come to court for other cases listed for hearing, the E-Committee of the Supreme Court assembled through video conferencing in the morning.The Chairperson, Dr. Justice Chandrachud, reviewed the measures which have been initiated by the High Courts in their respective jurisdictions. After noting the difficulties faced by some states in e-filing, in the operation of virtual courts and in the course of hearing cases through video conferencing, the Chairperson proposed that a meeting of the Chairpersons of the Computer committees of the High Courts be organised at 4 pm. Shri. Ramesh Babu, member of the E-committee contacted all Chief Project Coordinators of the Computerisation projects in the High Courts to ensure that all the Chairpersons were provided with information on the tentative agenda of the meeting. After incorporating suggestions from the High Courts, the following agenda for the meeting was drawn up: 1. Ensuring that the lockdown does not affect hearing of urgent matters in all courts across the country by: a. Enabling e-filing, consistent with Section 6 of the Information Technology Actb. Considering the feasibility of hearing urgent matters by video conferencing.c. Providing facilities in a facilitation centre for e-filing and video conferencing as far as possible in buildings situated at the entrance of court complexes, ensuring that the facilities are regularly sterilised,d. If such buildings are not available, considering installing porta-cabins at entrances,e. Providing facilities for e-filing, scanning and uploading as far as possible free of cost in urgent matters during the lockdown period.f. Providing at least two cubicles for video conferencing, with desktops, cameras etc. , subject to need and availability of funds,g. Authority to use unspent funds from phase II of E-courts project for this purpose, subject to observing financial norms, and obtaining ex-post facto approval of the E-committee/ Department Of Justice,g. Encouraging advocates, Judges of the High Courts and judicial officers to take up hearings from their homes/ residential offices,h. Encouraging all High Courts to take their own decisions to utilise the available options for video conferencing.2. Observance of the requirement of courts conducting open hearings via video conferencing. 3. Use of the latest software patch for automatic posting of cases in CIS 3.2.4. Implementation of Virtual Courts: Apart from virtual courts for e-challans under the Motor Vehicles Act, High Courts may consider use of virtual courts for other summary cases. Any difficulties faced may be brought to the notice of the e-committee, which will enhance the software. 5. Use of lock down time for pending house-keeping activities like migration to CIS 3.2 wherever it is not done so far.6. Any other item with the permission of the Chair.The Chairpersons of the Computer Committees of the High Courts conducted a review of the situation in their states and participated in the meeting chaired by Dr Justice Chandrachud. The following Chairpersons participated in the meeting: Telangana HC : Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan, The Chief JusticePatna HC : Justice Sanjay Karol, The Chief JusticeAllahabad HC : Justice Anjani Kumar MishraBombay HC : Justice N. M. JamdarCalcutta HC : Justice Sanjib BanerjeeChhattisgarh HC : Justice Manindra Mohan ShrivastavaDelhi HC : Justice Rajiv ShakdherGujarat HC : Justice Bela M TrivediHimachal Pradesh HC : Justice Tarlok Singh ChauhanJharkhand HC : Justice Harish Chandra MishraJammu & Kashmir HC : Justice Rajesh BindalKarnataka HC : Justice Aravind KumarKerala HC : Justice A. Muhamad MustaqueMadras HC : Justice T S SivagnanamMeghalaya HC : Justice Hamarsan Singh ThangkhiewManipur HC : Justice Kh. Nobin SinghMadhya Pradesh HC : Justice Satish Chandra SharmaOrissa HC : Justice Biswajit MohantyPunjab & Haryana HC : Justice Ajay TewariRajasthan HC : Justice Arun BhansaliSikkim HC : Justice Bhaskar Raj PradhanTripura HC : Justice S. TalapatraUttarakhand HC : Justice Manoj Kumar Tiwari The Chairpersons shared with the participants the steps taken and the challenges faced in their states. The Chairpersons agreed with the suggestion of Dr Justice Chandrachud, that while taking prompt measures at this time of crisis , the use of technology must be institutionalised even after the lockdown is lifted and normalcy returns. It was agreed that E-filing in such modes as may be practicable may be used during the period of lock down.Dr Justice Chandrachud also informed the participants about an e-filing module which is in an advanced stage of development in the Supreme Court. An e-filing module has been developed for trial courts Justice Chandrachud also suggested that the High Courts may share the utilities which have been developed in their courts for being...

Justice Chandrachud, Chairperson Of SC E-Committee, Confers With HC Judges On Video-Conferencing & Web Hosting Of Proceedings

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