 through its Secretary, Joseph S Aristotle has written a letter addressed to the Secretary General of the Supreme Court suggesting certain steps necessary for further effectiveness of the E-filing system introduced amid COVID-19 Pandemic.){kind=link}
Supreme Court Advocate-On-Record Association (SCAORA) through its Secretary, Joseph S Aristotle has written a letter addressed to the Secretary General of the Supreme Court suggesting certain steps necessary for further effectiveness of the E-filing system introduced amid COVID-19 Pandemic.
SCAORA has requested for urgent implementation of the measures suggested so as to enable lawyers and Party in Person to assist the Court effectively in present situation of COVID-19 crisis.
GRIEVANCE CELL/CENTRE for VIDEO CONFERENCING
The first step that SCAORA has suggested is setting up of a Grievance cell for video Conferencing since at present there is no system in place for addressing issue that may arise due to technical glitches in video conferencing matters. The same has also been suggested by the Supreme Court in its order of 6th April, 2020 to maintain a Helpline to ensure that any complaint in regard to the quality or audibility of feed shall be communicated during the proceeding or immediately after its conclusion.
LINKS FOR VIDEO CONFERENCING
SCAORA has further requested to provide for effective links to all the counsels whose names get reflected in the cause list for that particular matter in order to address the issue of the non-functioning of the link that is provided for Video-Conferencing.
HELPLINE PORTALS FOR LISTING AND E-FILING
It has also been requested that steps may also be taken to set up a redressal mechanism for issues that pertaining to E-fling and listing.
SERVICE OF DOCUMENT
For effecting service of documents upon the counsel, especially the Standing Counsel of States and Union, a list containing the contact details of the AOR’s for the States and Union has been requested to be made available on the official website of the Supreme Court. Further, since steps have to be taken for social-distancing, a service made through electronic mediums (emails, whatsapp’s etc) may be deemed to be effective service upon the counsels during this time.
OPTION FOR FILING CAVEAT THROUGH E-FILING
At present since there is no option available for filing fresh caveats through E-filing on the official website of the Supreme Court, SCAORA has requested that steps may be taken for providing option of filing caveats similar to that of other documents through E-filing before the Hon’ble Supreme Court during this time.
PROVISION OF DISPLAY BOARD
It has further been requested that steps may be taken for provision of electronic display board, similar to the electronic display board that is already available on the official website of the Supreme Court which is used at the time of the normal functioning of the Courts. The same is necessary for the Lawyers/Party-in-person in order to remain ready for the hearing of the matter on a particular day.
Requesting that the steps be take into consideration, SCAORA has highlighted in its letter that “as the current system of E-filing and listing is relatively new and getting progressing each day, it is crucial that the aforementioned steps be taken on an urgent basis for effective hearings and assistance by lawyers to the Hon’ble Court at this time.”
-India Legal Bureau