The High Court of Kerala has issued a notification stating that the sittings of the Court during the midsummer vacation 2020 shall be through Video Conferencing only.
The notification further read that the vacation bench will be in accordance with the High Courts notification, however if required then modifications may be made by Single Judges hearing Bail and Writ Petitions from Monday to Friday.
The notification also provides procedure for e-filing.
- All petitions, applications, appeals, revision etc shall be sent to the Registry via email with a memo sitting reasons for urgency. The email shall be sent after 9 A.M and before 12 noon on all working days from Monday to Friday.
- While sending the matter, an undertaking shall be 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, within the time limit notified by the Registry for the purpose.
- All petitions and annexure/exhibits shall be sent as a single PDF document.
- The Counsel shall also fill up the details of the individual case in soft copy (A4 size paper) and forward the same to the Registry in word/ open-office/rich text format.
The notification also provides a format for filing of bail applications. Moreover an appendix has been attached to the notification titled “Video Conferencing Etiquette” which prescribes certain rules to be adhered by litigants and counsels in the procedure involving Video Conferencing.