Nishka Srinivas Veluvali
Published On: January 02, 2022 at 13:43 IST
Kerala High Court issued a notice that filing of cases in the Court will be through electronic mode (e-filing) from January 1, 2022.
Even though the Lawyers have filed the cases through e-filing process, they will have to submit 2 sets of physical copies of those cases.
The Notice of the High Court states that, “All fresh files and miscellaneous matters like interlocutory applications, objections, counter-affidavits, etc shall be e-filed with effect from January 1, 2022. However, the counsel concerned shall present two sets of physical copies of e-filed cases, by taking print out from the dashboard, after verification order sheet shall be attached along with the physical copies as is being done at present”.
In the matter of Civil Cases, the valuation will be shown as per the existing practices. As for the Civil Cases or Petitions the Petitioner will have to present the physical copy the e-filed Petition in accordance of statutory provisions.
The Notice also provides the time schedule for e-filing and for presenting the physical copies.
E- filing has been a controversial issue in the Kerala High Court as the Bar Associations opposing the same citing that the clerks would lose their jobs if the e-filing goes online.
The Kerala High Court Advocates Association (KHCAA) has been consistently opposing the Electronic Filing Rules for the Court 2021 put forth by the Kerala High Court to control the online e-filing system and to provide facilities necessary for the electronic filing in the High Court.
The Bar Council of Kerala and the KHCAA have been registering protests and threatening to boycott the rules of the same.
In opposition to this, the Bar Council of Kerala had written a letter to the Chief Justice of India NV Ramana and the Chief Justice of Kerala S Manikumar seeking to Order the suspension of the electronic filing system in the Kerala High Court.
The Bar Association had also issued a notice warning about the disciplinary action to be taken against the advocates resorting for e-filing mode.
The KHCAA has also been against the virtual hearings to an extent that they had hosted a protest meets.
The Kerala High Court had resumed to physical hearing on November 22, 2021. However, lawyers and litigants are still free to opt for the virtual hearings if they wish to.