Three paperless courts in Kerala HC from Aug 1

KOCHI: All-in-one touchscreen personal computers where case files would be displayed automatically and dispensing with the need to file for physical copies at the time of filing are some of the features of the three paperless courts which will commence functioning in Kerala High Court from August 1.

From August 1, all-in-one touch screen personal computers would be provided for the use of advocates in the paperless courts.

''The display of the case and case files is automatic with the case taken on board as initiated by the court officer and the advocate need not login to view the case file taken on board. He needs only to open the case file for viewing and for representing the case,' the Kerala High Court Registrar General has said in a notice dated July 30.

Furthermore, copies to be served to lawyers of the state and central government as well as other institutions, which have a designated advocate, can be continued to be done via the online dashboard at the time of e-filing, the notice said.

Where there is no designated counsel for an opposite party, hard copies of the case will have to be produced, it said.

''In the cases proposed to be filed before the paperless courts, it is not necessary to file physical copies of the e-filed case after scrutiny and once the cases are defect free, they will be automatically listed as per the standing instructions,'' the notice said.

On July 21, the High Court issued a notice stating that the first phase of the paperless courts was being introduced or implemented in one division bench and two single benches and would be primarily limited to bail and tax matters.

The division bench of Justices S V Bhatti and Basant Balaji would be one of the paperless courts and would deal with appeals on tax-related and other subjects from the paperless court of Justice Gopinath P who would be dealing with such cases.

The other paperless single judge bench is that of Justice Viju Abraham who would be considering bail applications.

Besides these, ''all bail applications that are considered in other benches of the High Court will also be in paperless mode'', the earlier notice had said.