2020

Digital NI Act Courts in Delhi

SCMSC
Delhi High Court
Hon’ble the Chief Justice
&
Hon’ble Judges of SCMSC and IT Committee who inspired and guided us

Chief Justice Dhirubhai Naranbhai Patel

Chief Justice, Delhi High Court

Member of the Artificial Intelligence Committee of the Supreme Court.

Hon’ble Mr. Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw

Judge, Delhi High Court

Chairman of State Court Management Systems Committee

Hon’ble Mr. Justice Rajiv Shakdher

Judge, Delhi High Court

Chairman of Information Technology Committee

Hon’ble Mr. Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva

Judge, Delhi High Court

Member of Information Technology Committee
Hon’ble Mr. Justice Yogesh Khanna

Judge, Delhi High Court

Member of State Court Management Systems Committee

Hon’ble Ms. Justice Pratibha M. Singh

Judge, Delhi High Court

Member of Information Technology Committee

Hon’ble Mr. Justice Navin Chawla

Judge, Delhi High Court

Member of Information Technology Committee

Hon’ble Mr. Justice Brijesh Sethi

Judge, Delhi High Court

Member of State Court Management Systems Committee
CONTENTS
S.NO PARTICULARS PAGE NO.

1. Background 2-3
2. Judicial Directives 3-5
3. Directions by Hon’ble the Chief Justice D. N. Patel 5
4. Concept of Digital NI Act Courts 6-9
5. Flow Chart for e-filing and digital hearing 9
6. Staff Requirement for Digital NI Act Courts 10
7. Physical and IT Infrastructure of Digital NI Act Courts 11
8. Standard Operating Protocol for Digital NI Act Courts 12
(Appendix – 1) Page Nos.14-25

9. e-Sewa Kendra – NI Act Facilitation Counter 12

(Appendix – 2) Page Nos.26-38

10. LAYERS 2.0 – Dashboard for Digital NI Act Courts 12

(Appendix – 3) Page Nos.39-50

11. Mandatory META Data Form 13

(Appendix – 4) Page Nos.51-52

12. MyDigiFile (Dashboard for Advocates and Litigants) 13

13. Digital NI Act Court Judges 13

(Appendix – 5) Page No.53

14. Dedicated email IDs of Digital NI Act Courts 14

(Appendix – 6) Page No.54

15. Video Conferencing Rules, 2020 14

(Appendix – 7) Page Nos.55-70
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1. Background

The Project for establishment of Digital NI Act Court at District Courts level was
conceived and conceptualized by the SCMSC of Delhi High Court on the directions of Hon’ble
the Chief Justice D. N. Patel with an objective of providing hassle-free environment to the
litigants for filing, hearing and disposal of cheque dishonor cases and is aimed at
strengthening ‘Access to Justice for all’.
The Negotiable Instruments Act was amended by the Banking Public Financial
Institutions and Negotiable Instruments Laws (Amendment) Acts, 1988 and Chapter XVII was
inserted in the Act, comprising Sections 138 to 143, thereby making non-payment post
dishonor of cheque, a criminal offence.
Owing to upsurge in commercial activities and enhanced usage of cheques as a mode
of payment, complaints under Section 138 of the NI Act came to be filed in such large
numbers that it became impossible for the courts to handle them within a reasonable time
and it also had a highly adverse impact on the court’s normal work in ordinary criminal
matters.
Delhi being national capital and one of the leading commercial hub in North India
witnessed huge filing of Section – 138 NI Act Complaint. In the years 2018 and 2019 NCT of
Delhi witnessed filing of 1,15,869 and 1,92,622 complaints respectively. Pendency of NI Act
cases in District Courts in Delhi is mammoth 3,70,996 as on 30.06.2020 which constitutes
more than 54 per cent of all combined criminal cases pending in Delhi. Cheque dishonor cases
constitute around 42 per cent of all pending civil and criminal cases in Delhi.
Remedial measures were urgently required and the legislature took action by
introducing further amendments in the Act through the Negotiable Instruments (Amendment

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and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2002. This amendment inserted in the Act for the first
time sections 143 to 147 besides bringing about a number of changes in the existing
provisions of Sections 138 to 142. Section 143 gave to the court the power to try cases
summarily; Section 144 provided for the mode of service of summons; Section 145 made it
possible for the complainant to give his evidence on affidavit; Section 146 provided that the
bank’s slip would be prima facie evidence of certain facts and Section 147 made the offences
under the Act compoundable.
Earlier SCMSC of High Court tried to tackle the menace of huge pendency by bunching
of similar cases. However, the situation being grim required more innovative steps and use of
technology within the existing legal framework for expediting the disposal.

2. Judicial Directives
Hon’ble the Supreme Court in M/S Meters and Instruments vs. Kanchan Mehta, AIR
2017 SC 4594, observed, “it appears to be necessary that the situation is reviewed by the High
Courts and updated directions are issued. Interactions, action plans and monitoring are
continuing steps mandated by Articles 39A and 21 of the Constitution to achieve the goal of
access to justice. Use of modern technology needs to be considered not only for paperless
courts but also to reduce overcrowding of courts. There appears to be need to consider
categories of cases which can be partly or entirely concluded “online” without physical
presence of the parties by simplifying procedures where seriously disputed questions are not
required to be adjudicated. Traffic challans may perhaps be one such category. Atleast some
number of Section 138 cases can be decided online”.
Hon’ble Supreme Court in the same judgment has provided some insight for
procedural compliance and video conferencing as “If complaint with affidavits and documents

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can be filed online, process issued online and accused pays the specified amount online, it may
obviate the need for personal appearance of the complainant or the accused. Only if the
accused contests, need for appearance of parties may arise which may be through counsel
and wherever viable, video conferencing can be used. Personal appearances can be dispensed
with on suitable self operating conditions”.

However the Supreme Court allowed the High Courts to do the needful by saying “This
is a matter to be considered by the High Courts and wherever viable, appropriate directions
can be issued……..It will be open to the High Courts to consider and lay down category of cases
where proceedings or part thereof can be conducted online by designated courts or otherwise.
The High Courts may also consider issuing any further updated directions for dealing with
Section 138 cases in the light of judgments of this Court”.

A Bench of Hon’ble Supreme Court led by CJI HMJ SA Bobde with HMJ L Nageshwara Rao
in case titled Makwana Mangaldas Tulsidas v. State of Gujarat and another SLP (Criminal)
No. 5464 of 2016, on 05.03.2020 issued certain directions, a summary of which is as follows -
1. High Courts to consider setting up of Exclusive NI Act Courts.
2. Ascertain standard figures of pendency of NI Act cases in district across the State.
3. Set-up Exclusive NI Act Courts where pendency is above standard figure.
4. Formulate special norms for work assessment of Exclusive NI Act Courts.
5. Give additional weightage to Exclusive Courts which decide NI Act cases within time
frame.
6. Use modern technology for making Paperless NI Act Courts.
7. Arrange for online appearance of parties in addition to exploring the feasibility of
dispensing personal appearance of accused.

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8. Prepare a status report of all directions issued and special measure adopted by High
Court vis-a-vis NI Act Court with an aim to expedite adjudication and reduce pendency.
This status report is supposed to be shared with the Supreme Court for adoption and
implementation Pan India.

3. Directions by Hon’ble the Chief Justice D. N. Patel

Under the directions of Hon’ble the Chief Justice D. N. Patel, dated 17.08.2020, the
SCMSC undertook the Project of leveraging the Trial of NI Act Complaints on mission-mode
and devised a detailed SOP so as to achieve an end to end digital paperless functioning of NI
Act Courts for fresh cases.
The SOP so prepared by the Registry of this High Court was approved by Hon’ble the
Chief Justice and a decision was taken to establish and operationalize 34 Digital NI Act Courts
w.e.f. 17.11.2020 in the 11 Judicial Districts in Delhi as under:

Sl. No. Name of the District Expected yearly filing on the average of last No. of Paperless Courts
two years required
1. Central, Tis Hazari 13000 3
2. West, Tis Hazari 8000 2
3. New Delhi, Patiala House 14000 3
4. East, Karkardooma 4000 1
5. North-East, Karkardooma 300 1
6. Shahdra, Karkadooma 4000 1
7. North, Rohini 4000 1
8. North-West, Rohini 19000 4
9. South-West, Dwarka 46000 9
10. South, Saket 29000 6
11. South-East, Saket 14000 3
Total 155300 34

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4. Concept of Digital NI Act Courts

Digital NI Act Courts being established under this Project shall try and dispose of all
fresh NI Act complaints filed w.e.f. 17.11.2020 onwards in a totally paperless digital
environment where hearings will take place by way of video conferencing.

4.1 Mandatory e-Filing of NI Act Complaints –

Digital NI Act Court Project would require the Complainants and their Lawyers to
mandatorily e-File their complaints through e-Filing portal of e-Committee of Supreme Court
of India. e-Sewa Kendra in District Courts shall have dedicated facilitation counter in respect
of NI Act Cases and shall render all necessary help to the Advocates and Litigants who are
unable to file their complaints from their offices/homes.

4.2 Consumption of e-Filed NI Act Complaints by CIS 3.2 of NIC –

Such e-filed NI Act Complaints would be digitally consumed by the CIS 3.2 of NIC and
would be allocated unique 10 digit CNR numbers.

4.3 LAYERS 2.0 to maintain Repository of Data of all e-Filed NI Act Complaints –
IT Team of District Courts, Delhi shall provide for maintenance of complete Repository
of all e-Filed NI Act Complaints in its local server in a proper bookmarked hyperlinked manner
which is akin to physical case file of NI Act Complaint. The e-Filed NI Act Complaint shall be
consumed by Court Staff from CIS 3.2 and uploaded and maintained in LAYERS 2.0.

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4.4 Digital NI Act Court POs can access the e-Filed NI Act Complaints from LAYERS 2.0 –
All the MMs presiding Digital NI Act Courts and their Ahlmads/Readers will be able to
access the entire Complaint and its Annexures through secured login credentials already
provided to them for their day-to-day judicial/administrative work as also for Court hearing of
cases.

4.5 Advocates and Litigants to be provided access to Digital NI Act Files –

IT Team of District Courts, Delhi shall provide for a facility whereby mirror image of e-
Filed NI Act File maintained by the Digital NI Act Court can be shared with the concerned
Advocates and Litigants through a dedicated, secured and non-transferrable weblink on a
Drive on the cloud which can be easily accessed through internet.

4.6 Hearing of Case before Digital NI Act Court –

On a scheduled date of hearing, Ld. Magistrate, Reader/Ahlmad, Court Stenographer,
Litigants and their respective Lawyers can conveniently join the Digital Court Room by using
only two links namely:
i) Permanent Video Conferencing (VC) Court link on Cisco Webex (to be published
on website).
ii) Permanent Digital File link on cloud* accessible through internet (to be shared
with concerned Advocates and Litigants by the Court).
*Court and its staff can access the Digital File through NICNET as well.

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4.7 Safe keeping of original documents and complaint -

Under the SOP, once the complaint is allocated to a Digital NI Act Trial Court, at the
stage of cognizance of the complaint by the Magistrate, the Complainant shall be duty-bound
to deposit all the original documents including the dishonored cheque/s, dishonor memo,
Legal Demand Notice, dispatch receipt and service proof, reply if any etc. apart from physical
signed original complaint, its supporting affidavit and attested affidavit of pre-summoning
evidence. The Complainant shall submit the same with the Ahlmad of the concerned Digital
NI Act Court who shall in turn keep them in safe custody and intimate the Trial Court about
the same. Deposit of above documents shall be a pre-requisite of taking cognizance and
passing of Order under Section 204 CrPC.

4.8 Mandatory filling of NI Act Complaint META Data Form –

Once the cognizance is taken by the Digital NI Act Court, at the time of filing of first
process fees, the Complainant/ Complainant’s lawyer would be required to fill up online a
mandatory NI Act Complaint META Data Form. The data so collected through the same would
be utilized for creating a database for application of AI-based tools on identification, clubbing
and bunching of similar cases as also legal research aimed at expediting timely disposal of
complaints.
4.9 Preparation and Signature of Order Sheets/Misc. Orders –
Ld. Magistrates can dictate the Order Sheets to the Stenographers online during or
after hearing. The typed Order Sheets shall be digitally signed by the Magistrates before
uploading the same on CIS 3.2 and also maintaining the same in the Digital NI Act File folder
in the LAYERS and mirror image of the file on Drive on the Cloud accessible by Advocates and
Litigants through internet.

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4.10 Updation/Filing of Additional Documents in Digital Case File –

Lawyers/ Litigants can continue to file additional documents via e-Filing portal of e-
Committee of Supreme Court as and when required. They can also email such documents to
the Court on the dedicated email ID directly or with the help of eSK. However, the Court staff
shall also have the facility to scan and upload documents/process report etc in the Digital File.

5. Flow Chart for e-filing and digital hearing

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6. Staff Requirement for Digital NI Act Courts

Complex District Number of Steno Reader/ Peon Total staff

Courts Ahlmad requirement
Tis Hazari Central 3 3 3 3 9
West 2 2 2 2 6
Patiala House New Delhi 3 3 3 3 9
Karkardooma East 1 1 1 1 3
North-East 1 1 1 1 3
Shahdra 1 1 1 1 3
Rohini North 1 1 1 1 3
North-West 4 4 4 4 12
Dwarka South-West 9 9 9 9 27
Saket South 6 6 6 6 18
South-East 3 3 3 3 9
Total 34 34 34 34 102

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7. Physical and IT Infrastructure of Digital NI Act Courts

Complex District No. of Desktops for Deskto Scanners Staff

Courts Steno+Reader/ p for and Room
Ahlmad MM Printers
Tis Hazari Central 3 6 3 1 1
West 2 4 2 1 1
Patiala House New Delhi 3 6 3 1 1
Karkardooma East 1 2 1 1 1
North-East 1 2 1 1 1
Shahdra 1 2 1 1 1
Rohini North 1 2 1 1 1
North-West 4 8 4 1 1
Dwarka South-West 9 18 9 2 2
Saket South 6 12 6 2 2
South-East 3 6 3 1 1
Total 34 58 34 13 13

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8. Standard Operating Protocol for Digital NI Act Courts

Appendix – 1:- SOP detailing step-wise procedure to be followed for filing, hearing and
disposal of NI Act Cases through digital means.

9. e-Sewa Kendra – NI Act Facilitation Counter

Appendix – 2:- Project Implementation Guidelines for e-Sewa Kendra as issued by e-

Committee of Supreme Court of India. Ld. District and Sessions Judges shall provide for
atleast one counter dedicated to Digital NI Act Courts relating facilities.

10. LAYERS 2.0 – Dashboard for Digital NI Act Courts

Appendix – 3:- Step-wise guide for usage of LAYERS 2.0 by Judges and Court staff. Ld.
MMs will be able to access the entire Digital NI Act Case File along with previous Order
Sheets, Misc. Applications, Processes etc. with proper bookmarking and pagination. Court
staff will be able to maintain Digital NI Act Case File partly by downloading from CIS 3.2 and
on need basis by directly uploading scanned copy of documents received physically or/and via
email.

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11. Mandatory META Data Form

Appendix – 4:- Step wise details of mandatory NI Act Complaint META Data Form and
link to be utilized to fill the data.

12. MyDigiFile (Dashboard for Advocates and Litigants)

IT Team of Delhi District Courts shall provide to the concerned Advocates and Litigants,
a permanent VC link for each Digital NI Act Court as also permanent Digital File link for each
NI Act Complaint filed by or against them. Such file shall be accessible 24*7 and shall be
mirror image of Digital Court File maintained by the Court staff in LAYERS 2.0.

In due course, an endeavour shall be made to provide an MyDigiFile secured login

dashboard which shall be a one stop user interface for an Advocate and a Litigant for all the
cases filed by or against them in Delhi under NI Act. It shall work as a Repository of all the
digital web file links of concerned NI Act Complaints.

13. Digital NI Act Court Judges

Appendix – 5:- Contains the names of Judges who shall preside over 34 Digital NI Act
Courts in 11 Judicial Districts of Delhi.

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14. Dedicated email IDs of Digital NI Act Courts

Appendix – 6:- Dedicated email Addresses of Digital NI Act Courts. Each Digital NI Act
Court has been assigned a dedicated email ID which can be utilised by the Ld. Advocates and
the Litigants for sharing applications, documents and other communications in addition to the
filing facility available in e-Filing portal of the e-Committee of the Supreme Court. This email
ID shall be operated by the Reader/Ahlmad and scans of applications/documents so received
shall be updated by them in the Complaint File maintained in the LAYERS database as also in
the mirror image of the file in the Drive maintained in the Cloud.

15. Video Conferencing Rules 2020

Appendix – 7:- Delhi High Court has framed Rules for conducting court proceedings
through Video Conferencing. The same will also apply to the Proceedings before Digital NI Act
Courts.

(Surinder S. Rathi)
Member Secretary
SCMSC

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“Digital NI Act Court functioning”

A. Steps covering preparation of Complaint E. Framing of Notice on accused

1. Drafting of complaint 24.
Arguments on notice
2. Attachments with the complaint 25.
Framing of notice
3. Affidavit for verification 26.
In case accused pleads guilty
4. Affidavit of evidence 27.
Conviction and Sentence
5. Court fee 28.
Recording of plea and defence of accused
F. Post Notice hearing of case
B. Steps for filing of NI Act complaint 29. Post Notice evidence as per Section-145
6. Filing of the case of NI Act
7. Generation of filing Number 30. Interim Compensation
8. Allocation of case by CMM to MM 31. Evidence from complainant side
9. Movement of file from filing to the Trial Court 32. Witness from the side of complainant
10. Registration of the case in the Trial Court 33. Cross examination
G. Recording of statement of accused
C. Cognizance and hearing before Digital Court 34. Examination of accused
11. First hearing H. Defence Evidence
12. Filing of process fee for issuance of summon to 35. Preparation for Defence evidence
accused 36. Defence evidence
13. Preparation of summons I. Final Arguments
14. Signing of summons 37. Final arguments
15. Mode of sharing summons with Nazarat/Police J. Judgment and Sentence
16. Additional mode of service of summons 38. Judgment
17. Service of summons on accused 39. Sentence
18. Service by Post/Courier 40. Suspension of sentence
19. Issuance and execution of Bailable/Non-Bailable 41. Acquittal
Warrant K. Miscellaneous
42. Miscellaneous Applications
D. First appearance of accused 43. Production of original documents
20. Appearance of accused in the Court 44. Imposition and payment of costs
21. Appearance of incarcerated accused 45. Transfer of case/abolition of
22. Bail proceedings Court/Appeal/Revision
23. Identity of accused 46. Mediation
47. Compounding
48. Certified copies
49. Disposal
50. Disposal in CIS

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HIGH COURT OF DELHI: NEW DELHI
(Office of SCMSC)
Step wise details for operating Digital NI Act Courts

Sl. Steps in Physical Procedure Procedure for Digital NI Act Courts

No. NI Act Cases

A. Steps covering preparation of Complaint

1. Drafting of A. Lawyer/Complainant A. Word format so typed will be converted by the

complaint drafts the complaint on Lawyer/Complainant into PDF-A version.
computer in Word format and
takes out a print. B. The PDF then shall be signed by the Lawyer
and/or Complainant with Digital signature/Aadhar
B. The complaint and based authentication.
vakalatnama are signed by the OR
complainant and the lawyer. Lawyer/Litigants may take print out of the complaint,
sign it physically, followed by scanning of the same into
a PDF-A format. e-Seva Kendra (eSK) shall render help
to the Lawyer/Litigants whn approached.

(Information Technology Act validates every

computerized writing and signature in respect of all
other laws which requires any writing or signature).

2. Attachments NI Act complaint procedurally Scanned copy of all these documents may be attached
with the requires filing of dishonored by converting them into soft PDF-A format.
complaint Cheque, Return memo, Legal
Demand Notice, Delivery
proof with the complaint
apart from other case specific
document including
Vakalatnama.
3. Affidavit for As a general practice, NI Act The party may get his normal affidavit affirmed; scan it
verification complaint accompanies one into PDF-A format.
affidavit of verification sworn
by the complainant.

4. Affidavit of Complainant also files his Pre- As above.

evidence summoning evidence by way
of affidavit alongwith the
complaint.

5. Court fee Complainant purchases e- Complainant may attach scanned copy of court fee in
stamp and attaches the print PDF-A format or may utilize the available online court
with the complaint. fee payment facility.

B. Steps for filing of NI Act complaint

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6. Filing of the Complaint alongwith A. All Complaints shall be e-filed via e-Filing
case documents and affidavits are module at https://efiling-dl.ecourts.gov.in/
filed with the facilitation B. Lawyers/Litigants can file complaints from the
counter of the district Courts. comfort of their homes/offices 24x7.
AND/OR
C. They can also visit e-Seva Kendra operational in
District Courts where the staff shall render all help to
them in their registration in e-filing module and also in
e-filing of complaint alongwith annexure.
D. After the allocation of the case to a Digital
Court, Complainant shall deposit the original signed
complaint with supporting affidavit, affidavit of pre-
summoning evidence alongwith original documents
with the designated court official of the purpose for
safe keeping, against a receipt for proof of submission.

7. Generation of Facilitation counter staff Filing number shall be generated as per prevailing
filing Number enters the Meta data details protocol regarding e-filing.
of the case and generates
filing number.

8. Allocation of Physical files are placed before A. A list of all e-filed cases shall be prepared by the
case by CMM CMM who allocates the cases Administrative staff from the back end.
to MM to Magistrates and also fixes B. Allocation of cases shall be done by the
date of appearance before concerned CMM to the Magistrates as also fixing date
the Trial Court. of appearance before the Trial Court. A system
generated email and/or SMS will be triggered to the
Lawyer/Litigant.

9. Movement of Physical file is sent to the A. The e-filed NI Act complaint shall become
file from filing Ahlmad of the concerned visible to the Trial Court staff, post its allocation.
to the Trial Magistrate. B. The Court staff shall download the soft PDF
Court copy of the NI Act complaint and all its annexures on
their Computers.
C. Staff will create dedicated soft folder for each
complaint with proper indexing and bookmarking in the
LAYERS 2.0.
D. Staff will create a mirror image folder in the
Drive in the Cloud accessible by Internet/DigiFileStore
dashboard and share the weblink of the case file folder
on the drive with the concerned Advocates and
Litigants on their registered e-mails.

10. Registration of Reader of the concerned Registration no. shall be generated as per prevailing
the case in Magistrate gives no objection protocol regarding e-filing case in CIS.
the Trial Court in the CIS. Thereafter the
Ahlmad registers the case in
his court and a registration
no. is generated automatically
in CIS 3.2.

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C. Cognizance and hearing before Digital Court

11. First hearing A. On the assigned date, A. Concerned Magistrate, Reader/Ahlmad, Steno,
the physical file is placed Advocates/Litigants shall join the Digital NI Act Court
before the Magistrate. On VC Room by logging in into the permanent Cisco Webex
appearance of complainant VC Room ID available on the website.
side, the Magistrate hears the B. Magistrates shall log into their LAYERS
matter, takes cognizance and dashboard simultaneously where they will find cause
direct issuance of summons to list of the cases listed on a particular date. The cause
accused. list shall have a hyper-link to the digital NI Act case file
B. In some courts, there created by the court staff.
is also a traditional practice of C. Advocate/Litigant can access the mirror image
tendering of affidavit and of the digital NI Case file through the Drive on Cloud
marking of documents, before accessible on the internet, by clicking on the
direction to issue summons. permanent case file web link provided to them by the
court staff on their registered emails.

12. Filing of Complainant deposit the A. Party can file process fee, postal envelopes,
process fee for process fee by way of Court mentioning the details of the case etc. for issuance of
issuance of fee stamp affixed on the PF summon to accused.
summon to Form. B. Court Staff to preserve PF Form, Service Report,
accused Postal/ Courier Envelopes, however, scanned copies
thereof to be uploaded on the LAYERS 2.0 and
simultaneously on mirror image on cloud.

13. Preparation of Ahlmad prepares the Summons to be generated electronically with the help
summons summons to be issued to the of templates available in CIS 3.2 with facility of pre-
accused. filling Court details, name, address etc. of accused.

14. Signing of Magistrate signs the hard copy A. Court staff shall share PDF of the summons with
summons summons physically. Court the Magistrate who shall e-sign the same.
seal is also affixed on the B. Magistrate shall share back the digitally signed
summons. summons to the Record keeper who shall take the print
and affix stamp of the court.

15. Mode of Ahlmad sends the summons A. Stamped printout of e-signed summons to be
sharing to Nazarat Branch for service. shared with Nazarat Branch.
summons with Sometimes summons is also B. In a given case summon may also be sent to
Nazarat/Police sent via police department. police for service.
C. Court staff may share the summons for service
via NSTEP.

16. Additional Summons is also sent by post Postal envelope to be submitted by complainant with
mode of or courier. For this, the Ahlmad of the Digital Court.
service of complainant files envelope
summons having requisite postal stamp
and address of accused.
17. Service of A. Nazarat Branch serves A. Nazarat Branch or Police to scan the report and
summons on the summons through process send it to the court in PDF format or through NSTEP as
accused server and sends a report on the case may be.

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the back of copy of summons. B. PDF scanned report shall be uploaded by the
B. It is similar with the Court staff in the digital case file maintained in the
police. LAYERS 2.0 as also in the mirror image of the file
maintained in the Drive in the Cloud.
AND/OR
C. First summons to be sent by email/sms to the
accused and report to be uploaded by the Court staff in
the digital case file maintained in the LAYERS 2.0 as also
in the mirror image of the file maintained in the Drive
in the Cloud.

18. Service by AD card is received or Lawyer Staff of the Magistrate to scan the AD card and/or
Post/Courier files tracking report from the download the tracking report and to upload in the
website. digital case file maintained in the LAYERS 2.0 as also in
the mirror image of the file maintained in the Drive in
the Cloud.

19. Issuance and A. Ahlmad prepares the A. Warrant to be prepared and shared with Police
execution of warrant. Magistrate signs the in the same manner as provided above for e-summons.
Bailable/Non- same. Court seal is also B. In case of arrest of accused by the Police, the
Bailable affixed. arrestee shall be produced before the Digital Court
Warrant B. Warrant is then sent room via District Court VC room during working hours
to the police who execute the from 10 AM to 5 PM.
same. OR
C. If warrant is not C. Such arrested accused may be produced before
executed, police return it to the designated link physical MM Court to be nominated
the court with report on the by the CMM.
back of warrant.
D. If warrant is executed,
police returns the warrant
alongwith bail bonds to the
court in case of Bailable
Warrant (BW) or produces the
accused before the court in
case of NBW.

D. First appearance of accused

20. Appearance of Accused appears in person. Appearance through dedicated VC link of the Digital NI
accused in the Act Court published on the website or before the link
Court Digital NI Act Court / MM Court in case the Presiding
Officer of Trial Court is on leave.

21. Appearance of An accused who is in jail in any Appearance through VC from jail. Dedicated VC link of
incarcerated other case appears on the Digital NI Act Court published on the website. Jail
accused production warrant. Authorities to utilize internet facility shall be for this
purpose.
22. Bail Magistrate asks for bond and A. Counsel for accused or the accused shall fill up
proceedings surety and accused furnishes the bond form alongwith his surety and upload scanned
the same. copy of the same alongwith scanned copy of
documents on e-filing module through her registered

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ID or by sharing them on the dedicated email ID of the
concerned Court. While uploading/sharing the scanned
copy of filled in bail bonds, the accused shall also
upload a copy of his identity card such as Aadhar or
voter ID card etc.
B. The Magistrate shall write acceptance of bonds
or direction for verification in the order sheet.
C. However, original bail bonds to be deposited by
the accused with the Ahlmad for safekeeping.
23. Identity of Normally when the accused Situation will remain same.
accused appears, his counsel identifies
him apart from identification
by the complainant, if known.

E. Framing of Notice on accused

24. Arguments on Magistrate hears the parties This hearing will be done through Video Conferencing.
notice on the aspect of the case at
the stage of Section-251 CrPC.
and frames a notice.

25. Framing of Magistrate frames notice Notice under Section-251 CrPC shall be orally explained
notice under Section-251 against the to the accused through VC and PDF of the notice shall
accused. be sent to the accused via a email. Accused may either
append digital signature/Aadhar based signature or
may take out a print out, sign the same, scan it and
send it back via a email to the Court. The Magistrate
shall append digital signature before making it part of
the case file.

26. In case If accused pleads guilty, If the accused pleads guilty, his plea may be recorded in
accused Magistrate records the same the same manner as has been indicated hereinafter
pleads guilty and gets the statement signed regarding recording of statement of accused via Cisco
by the accused. Magistrate Webex.
then signs the statement.

27. Conviction and On plea of guilt, the A. The Court shall pass judgment and sentence as
Sentence Magistrate passes a judgment is done in normal procedure but only through VC mode.
of conviction if the Court is B. In case however, the Convict wants to deposit
satisfied and hear the parties the fine, he may deposit the same with the Reader of
on sentence. the Court.
OR
If payment module is integrated in CIS in future, the
convict may be provided with an online transaction
option.
C. If the Convict fails to deposit the fine, the
Magistrate shall issue warrant of attachment in terms
of Section-421 CrPC which normally shall be sent in
electronic mode to the police or executive
administration as the case may be for compliance. This
shall be done in the same manner as has been provided

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for warrant herein before.

28. Recording of If accused wants to contest A. The Magistrate through VC meeting may record
plea and the case, Magistrate records the answers given by the accused (may send it in PDF
defence of his plea alongwith defence form to accused via email if he requires his plea to be
accused and gets it signed by the signed, and the accused shall sign it digitally or in
accused. Magistrate then alternative, he shall sign the same after taking a print
signs the statement. and scan it & send it through email to the court) or if
the accused on bail is available with his counsel, he may
write his plea and send scanned PDF copy to the court.
B. Accused may upload the signed PDF through his
registered ID in the e-filing module or share the same
on the dedicated email ID.

F. Post Notice hearing of case

29. Post Notice A. Accused files an A. Miscellaneous application can be filed through
evidence as application under Section- e-filing portal or may be shared on designated email. It
per Section- 145(2) NI Act for recalling of should be filed in PDF form electronically with advance
145 of NI Act complainant who had filed his copy to the complainant.
evidence on affidavit. B. Complainant may file reply thereto with
B. Copy of application is advance copy to the accused.
supplied to the complainant C. The application shall be heard and disposed of
who files reply. through VC hearing.
C. Magistrate hears the
argument of both sides and
decides the application, which
once allowed will lead to
recalling of complainant for
cross examination.
30. Interim A. When the accused After notice under Section-251, the complainant can
Compensation claims trial, the complainant file such application at any stage. This application shall
moves an application under be filed and the Magistrate shall deal with the
Section-143A NI Act for grant application as per procedure prescribed for
of interim compensation. miscellaneous applications elsewhere in this paper.
B. Copy of application is
supplied to the complainant
who files reply.
C. Magistrate hears the
argument of both sides and
decides the application.
D. If compensation is
allowed, the accused pays the
same directly to the
complainant.
E. If the accused does
not pay, the same is
recovered under Section-421
CrPC by issuance of warrant
of attachment.

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31. Evidence from A. As per Section-145(1), If the accused has been allowed to cross examine the
complainant evidence affidavit filed by the complainant; the Magistrate shall fix a VC meeting date
side complainant initially is read as for recording of cross examination on the affidavit
his evidence for the purpose already available on record.
of trial.
B. Some Magistrates
follow a procedure wherein
complainant adopts the
earlier affidavit.

32. Witness from Same procedure applies for Situation will remain the same even for Digital courts.
the side of witness from the
complainant complainant’s side as is
indicated for the complainant.

33. Cross A. Lawyer of accused A. Cross examination to be conducted as per Rule-

examination cross examine the 8 & 9 of VC Rules.
complainant by putting B. After completion of cross examination (or part
questions. thereof on account of any adjournment), the
B. Answers are recorded stenographer shall send it in PDF form to the
by the Magistrate by Magistrate who shall verify its content. Then the same
dictation. shall be sent to the witness who shall take a print, sign
C. Documents are put to it and scan the same and thereafter send it to the court
the complainant for via email. The Magistrate shall digitally sign the first
contradiction or PDF and also the scanned PDF and then the same shall
corroboration. form part of the record.
D. Documents are OR
marked or exhibited. C. The complainant may upload his signed
scanned copy through his registered ID in the e-filing
module or share on the dedicated Court email ID and
then the Reader shall download it, send it to the
Magistrate who shall sign it and send it back to the
Reader who shall upload the same in the CIS.

G. Recording of statement of accused

34. Examination of After completion of A. The Magistrate shall examine the accused
accused complainant evidence, through VC mode by putting the incriminating material
Magistrate examines the and circumstances and shall prepare a memorandum of
accused and prepares a substance of answers given by him, as a record under
record. Section-281(1) as applicable to a Metropolitan
Magistrate. This memorandum shall form part of the
record of the case. So far as sign of the accused is
concerned, the same procedure may be followed as has
been given for Section-251 CrPC indicated above.
B. The Magistrate may in his discretion utilize the
provision of Section-313(5) for the purpose of
examination of accused. Magistrate himself should go
through the available record and prepare the questions
either by himself or by dictating the same to Court
stenographer.

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C. Magistrate shall then send the questions in PDF
version to the counsel for the accused who may
prepare a written reply at the behest of the accused
and email a signed scanned copy of the same or
digitally signed version to the court or may upload the
same through e-filing module. The questions so framed
and the written statement so received shall form part
of the record.

H. Defence Evidence
35. Preparation A. Accused files list of He may file an application alongwith the list of
for Defence witness and application for witnesses. If he himself wants to become witness, he
evidence summoning of witness. has to file a written request under Section-315 CrPC. All
B. If accused wants to these applications or list of witness shall be filed in PDF
examine himself as a witness, form electronically with advance copy to the
he files a written request complainant.
under Section-315 CrPC which
is generally allowed.

36. Defence Witnesses produced from the A. Accused cannot give evidence on affidavit as
evidence side of accused are orally has been held by Supreme Court in Mandvi Coop Bank
examined in court. All vs Nimesh Thakore (2010) 3SCC 83.
procedure stated B. Accused or his witnesses have to give oral
hereinbefore about cross evidence before the court. Procedure shall be same as
examination applies here. has been envisaged for the cross examination of the
complainant. If accused is in jail and wants himself to
become witness, he has to be granted access to the
Cisco WebEx from jail itself.

I. Final Arguments
37. Final Magistrate hears both the A. Final arguments shall be heard via Cisco WebEx.
arguments parties. B. However, any party may choose to send precise
written arguments which shall also be provided to the
opposite party. Time limit for oral arguments may be
regulated by the Presiding Officer keeping in mind the
facts and circumstances of each case. Magistrate shall
fix a date for judgment and intimate the date to all the
concerned.

J. Judgment and Sentence

38. Judgment After hearing finally, the Once the judgment is prepared, the Court shall fix a VC
Magistrate prepares and hearing on the given date. Magistrate shall pronounce
pronounces the judgment. the judgment and provide e-signed copy of the same as
per law.
39. Sentence A. In conviction cases, In cases of conviction, Magistrate may either hear on
Magistrate hears the parties sentence on the same day and pass order or may fix a
on the quantum of sentence. date for the same for virtual, or for reasons to be

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B. Sentence normally recorded for physical hearing.
includes an imprisonment
period and also fine or
compensation.

40. Suspension of A. Normally, the accused A. Accused may e-file application for suspension of
sentence files an application and sentence in the manner as provided for miscellaneous
Magistrate grants time for application.
appeal. B. The Court will ask the accused to furnish bonds
B. Magistrate asks for to enable him to file an appeal. Procedure
bail bond and surety for such contemplated for bail may be followed for bonds under
concession. this provision.

41. Acquittal In acquittal cases, the Section-437A requires that an accused should be asked
Magistrate directs the to furnish bonds with surety to ensure his presence
accused to furnish bond with before the appellate court. Similar procedure may be
surety for satisfying the adopted for this provision also for accepting bonds with
requirement of Section-437A surety or personal bond.
CrPC.

K. Miscellaneous
42. Miscellaneous A. During the A. Miscellaneous application can be filed through
Applications proceeding, parties come up e-filing portal. It should be filed in PDF form
with different type of electronically with advance copy to the opposite party.
application such as under B. Opposite party may file reply thereto with
Section-91, 311, 340 CrPC, 45 advance copy to the accused.
& 73 Evidence Act etc. C. The application shall be heard and disposed of
B. These applications are through VC hearing.
decided after taking reply
from the opposite party and
hearing both the parties.

43. Production of Original documents like Original documents to be submitted by both the sides
original dishonored cheques, return with the Ahlmad of Digital Court for safekeeping.
documents memos, legal demand notice,
service proof etc. are filed
alongwith the complaint

44. Imposition and Cost is imposed by the Court Until electronic means are operationalized, payment of
payment of for adjournment which is cost shall be made physically as is being done in respect
costs normally payable to the of other courts. Compliance reported to the Court shall
opposite party be recorded in order sheet.

45. Transfer of Case is transferred under the A. In case of transfer of a sub-judice Digital NI Act
case/abolition order of CMM/Sessions Court case to another Digital Court the soft copy of the
of Judge/High Court/Supreme e-filed document can be allocated to the data base.
Court/Appeal/ Court or Appeal/Revision is B. In case of transfer to a Non-Digital Court, the
Revision filed before superior courts Court Administration may construct a physical file with
original documents and taking printout of e-signed
order sheets, miscellaneous order etc.

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C. For Appeal/Revision, Step-B shall be followed
and physically created file shall be sent to the superior
court.
D. However, if the superior court so thinks fit, file
link over cloud may also be shared with it through
which it can see the entire file.

46. Mediation A. At any stage of the A. Digital Mediation proceedings shall be followed
proceeding, parties convey as per practice direction.
their willingness to utilize the B. In cases of settlement, the Magistrate after
mediation forum to settle the receiving the mediation communication, fix a date for
dispute. recording of statement & undertaking of both the
B. Magistrate sends a parties in terms of division bench judgment in
signed format alongwith copy Dayawati vs Yogesh Kumar Gosain 2017 SCC Online Del
of complaint to the Mediation 11032. This shall be done in Digital mode.
Centre. C. Thereafter, the Magistrate shall pass an order
C. If matter is settled in disposing the case. Aadhaar based authentication be
mediation, the Magistrate applied for signing the statements if digital signature is
upon receiving the agreement not possible or parties may sign a print out of the
containing terms of statement, scan it and share it the same with the Court
settlement, records the on dedicate email.
statement of parties and
dispose of the case.
D. If matter is not
settled, the Magistrate fixes a
date for further proceeding in
trial.

47. Compounding A. At any stage, parties Same as in mediation so far as recording of statement
may say that they have before the Court is concerned.
compounded the case.
B. If payment is already
made, the Magistrate records
the statement and dispose of
the case.
C. If payment is not
made, the Magistrate ensures
the payment, records the
statement and dispose of the
case.

48. Certified Parties file application for A. Process of application shall remain same till
copies seeking certified copies such time e-certified copy module is activated in CIS.
alongwith requisite fee with B. Copying Agency may be provided the soft copy
the copying agency physically. of all the e-filed documents, Court Orders and
Judgment. They can in turn take hard copy printout and
upon comparison and examination by the document
examiner certify and sell them as per current practice.
OR
C. In future a module for issuance of soft e-
certified copies duly certified with e-signatures can be

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applied and issued online.

49. Disposal Whether the trial resulted into No change for Digital courts. Original complaint,
conviction or acquittal, the affidavits, documents along-with miscellaneous papers
case file is directed to be to be consigned as per prevailing practice. Soft file copy
consigned to record room. link be also mentioned on the index.

50. Disposal in CIS Ahlmad or reader finally No change for Digital courts.
disposes the case in CIS.

State Court Management System Committee

High Court of Delhi

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PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION GUIDELINES

eSEWA
KENDRA

eCommittee
25th April, 2020 Supreme Court of India

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1

CONTENTS

S.NO PARTICULARS PAGE

NO.
1 Introduction 2

2 Objective 3-4

3 Concept of eSewa Kendra 4-5

4 Salient features of eSewa Kendra 5-6

5 Facilities to be provided in eSewa Kendra 6-7

6 Physical Infrastructure of eSewa Kendra 8-9
7 IT Infrastructure of eSewa Kendra 10

8 eSewa Kendra manpower needs 10

9 Cost estimation of establishing eSewa Kendra 10

10 One time cost & recurring cost details of eSK 11

11 Funds for establishment of eSewa Kendra 11

12 Rolling out of eSewa Kendra in High Courts 12

13 Rolling out of eSewa Kendra in District Courts 12

14 Message of Hon’ble Dr. D.Y. Chandrachud 12

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2

1. INTRODUCTION
The Project of establishment of eSeva Kendras at District Courts and High Courts was
conceived and conceptualized by the eCommittee with an objective of leveraging the
accessibility of services provided by the eCommittee of Supreme Court under its eCourts
related Project and is aimed at strengthening ‘Access to Justice for all’.
Ever since eCommittee was got constituted by Hon’ble the Chief Justice of India on
28.12.2004, it has beam playing a pivotal role in the realm of digitization of judicial domain, be
it formulation of National Policy on Computerization of Indian Judiciary or preparation and
implementation of Phase-I and Phase-II of eCourts Project at all three levels of Judicial system
at District Courts, High Courts and Supreme Court.
The objective behind creation of eCommittee and drafting of National Policy of
digitization of Indian Judiciary is to enhance judicial productivity both qualitatively and
quantitatively as also make the justice delivery system affordable, accessible, cost effective,
transparent and accountable.
In this process, eCommittee has been assisted by Department of Justice and National
Informatics Centre (NIC)
In the last 15 year, the eCommittee has made several efforts and has provided a number
of citizen centric services to enhance the accessibility of public to the Court Process and also to
assist in reducing the time gap in disposal of cases through the usage of technology based Case
Flow Management and IT related services in Court Process.

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3

2. OBJECTIVE
With an aim to bring transparency and easy access to basic information pertaining to
Judicial functioning and Trial of cases like access to cause-list, daily order sheets, next date of
hearing, copy of judgments and orders pronounced by the Courts, SMS/email alerts and like,
eCommittee designed and dedicated to the general public a highly interactive Websites which
are providing around 40 Lakhs services per day. eCommittee’s official Mobile App. has around
43 Lakhs downloads and is very popular amongst Members of Bar and Litigants.
It is, however, important to note that India is a vast multilingual country with majority
of our population living in villages and small cities. They have no or limited access to IT Services.
Such poor litigants are still facing hurdle in accessing the services provided by eCommittee
through eCourts related Projects throughout India because most of our services are in English
and these cannot be accessed without high-end smart phones or desktops and laptops.

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4

One of the terms of reference of originally constituted eCommittee was "to suggest
methods to make access to justice and availability of information more litigants friendly". It is,
therefore, necessary that eCommittee takes all efforts to facilitate the general public in their
pursuit of resolution of dispute through legal process. For this, the general public needs to be
assisted in accessing the information in a hassle free manner.
Hence, a need was felt to provide a bridge between the judiciary and the lesser
privileged section of our society who have not access to IT tools or are not acquainted with
their usage.
Keeping in view the above goal, a concept of eSevaKendra has been envisaged to be
established in each District Court Complex and High Court Complex throughout India.

3. CONCEPT OF eSEWA KENDRA

eCommittee under its flagship of eCourts Project created dedicated interfaces for
Judicial Officers, Court Staff and Lawyers under CIS 3.2 for District Courts and CIS 1.0 for High
Courts. Arrangements were made for accessing the Case Information System by way of floating
Judicial Service Centre (JSC) and Central Filing Centre (CFC). Our current Facilitation Centre in
the District Court and High Court are being utilized by lawyers, their court clerk and a section
of litigants were fully conversant with the Court Processes. Predominantly the Facilitation
Centres are located deep inside the Court Complex and are primarily functioning at filing
counters.
The eSeva Kendra, as the name suggest, are dedicated to and are supposed to serve the
common litigant as a one stop centre for all his/her Court related needs. In order to make it

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5

more visible, it is envisaged that it shall be strategically located right at the public entry gate
accessed by litigants and shall provide every possible assistance to a litigant walking in.

4. SALIENT FEATURES OF eSEWA KENDRA

It is suggested that an eSewa Kendra shall have following features:
4.1 eSewa Kendra shall be operationalized in District Court Complexes and High Court
Complexes.
4.2 eSK shall be manned by one or two Officials of the Court Administration.
4.3 To assist such official, an empanelled DLSA or HCLSC Advocate and empanelled PLVs
preferably from Law Schools/ shall be associated in the eSKs.
4.4 If available, Nayay Mitra from empanelled by Department of Justice, Ministry of Law may
also be associated.
4.5 The eSK shall function as the first line of contact between the litigants and judicial
establishment for the purpose of accessing eCourts Project related Services.
4.6 The Official manning the eSK shall keep a record of all visitors in a digital format.
4.7 The eSK shall help the litigants in accessing the relevant information through technological
means and shall also render help in physical form wherever required and to the extent
feasible.
4.8 The eSK shall also have readily available all the necessary details of the concerned Complex
viz. Presiding Officer with Court Number and its location, administrative branches and
sections, DLSA/HCLSC front office location and contact numbers and like.
4.9 The eSK shall have IT hardware like computer, scanner apart from LAN connection with
access to CIS 3.2 for District Courts and CIS 1.0 for High Courts. However, eSK shall be
paperless without any printer.

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6

4.10 The eSK shall have requisite information leaflets and other publicity material in English,
Hindi/local languages in respect of services being provided by eCommittee under eCourts
Project and method of accessing them.
4.11 The eSK shall provide all services free of cost to litigants and needy Bar Members and shall
also facilitate e-filing of petitions, pleadings, certified copies and like.
4.12 The eSK can also have a self-help touch screen eKiosk for accessing the required
information.
4.13 The staff, officials, PLV, DLSA/HCLSC Panel Lawyers shall provide all assistance in a
polite friendly manner by conversing in local language.
4.14 The eSK shall open at 9.00 AM or one hour before the Court opens whichever is earlier
and shall remain open through the working hours on all working days.
4.15 The eSK shall not only function in physical form in the Court Complex but may also have
virtual presence in the District/High Court website so that a litigant/needy lawyer can get
help even without visiting the Court Complex.
4.16 The eSK can also have a dedicated landline/mobile/WhatsApp helpline number which can
be used to provide necessary information to litigants and needy lawyers without necessity of
physically visiting the Court.

5. FACILITIES TO BE PROVIDED IN eSEWA KENDRA

eSK shall initially roll out following services for Litigants and needy Lawyers –
5.1. Handling inquiries about case status, next date of hearing and other details.
5.2. Facilitate online Applications for certificate copies and other such filing.
5.3. Facilitate eFiling of petitions right from scanning of hardcopy petitions, appending
eSignatures, uploading them into CIS and generation of filing number.
5.4. To assist in online purchase of eStamp papers/ePayments.

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7

5.5. To help in apply and obtain Aadhaar based digital signature.

5.6. Publicize and assist in downloading the Mobile App of eCourts for Android and IOS.
5.7. Facilitate in booking of eMulakat appointment for meeting relatives locked in Jail.
5.8. Handling queries about Judges on leave.
5.9. Handling queries about location of the particular Court, its cause-list and whether the case
is taken up for hearing or not.
5.10. Guide people on how to avail free legal services from District Legal Service Authority,
High Court Legal Service Committee and Supreme Court Legal Service Committee.
5.11. Facilitate disposal of traffic challan in virtual Courts as also online compounding of traffic
challans and other petty offences.
5.12. All other queries and assistance in respect of facilities which are digitally available under
eCourt Project.
5.13. Explain method of arranging and holding a video conference court hearing.
5.14. Provide soft copy of judicial orders/judgments via email, WhatsApp or any other
available mode.

These services may be added to subsequently to make the eSewa Kendra Litigant
Friendly.

It is submitted that we can add and modify the above services in eSewa Kendra as per
local needs and inputs from users.

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8

6. PHYSICAL INFRASTRUCTURE OF eSEWA KENDRA

6.1. Minimum 10 x 15 sq. ft. space;
6.2. Minimum 2 to 3 Counters depending upon number of Courts in the Complex;
6.3. Location of the eSeva Kendra near entry gate at prominent place so that it is visible to the
litigants, lawyers and other visitors to the Court;
6.4. Either a permanent structure if already available or a Porta Cabin.

6.5. Suggested design Models of Porta Cabin –

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9

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10

7. IT INFRASTRUCTURE OF eSEWA KENDRA

7.1 All-in-one computers commensurate to the number of inquiry counters i.e. 2 to 5;
7.2 One scanner;
7.3 LAN connectivity to CIS with internet facility.

8. eSEWA KENDRA MANPOWER NEEDS

8.1 One Judicial Assistant from Court establishment with knowledge of handling Computer
devices.
8.2 PLV/Contractual staff for manning counters depending upon the number of counters.

9. COST ESTIMATION OF ESTABLISHING eSEWA KENDRA

9.1 Erection of porta cabin – Rs.1.75 to Rs.2.25 Lakhs (Cost to be incurred only if no
permanent structure is available near gate)
9.2 IT Infrastructure –
Scanner – Rs.40,000/- each
All in one Computers – Rs.40,000/- each
LAN and Internet – Installation Rs.10,000/- recurring Rs.2000/- PM.
9.3 Manpower –
Court Employee – NIL
Contractual Staff – Rs.15,000/- each PM

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11

10. ONE TIME COST & RECURRING COST

10.1 eSK with Porta Cabin
No. of One Time Cost (Rs.) Monthly Recurring
Staff Cost (Rs.)
Two 3,30,000 17,000
(2,00,000/- + 80,000 + 40,000 + 10,000) (15,000 + 2,000)

Three 3,70,000 32,000

(2,00,000/- + 1,20,000 + 40,000 + 10,000) (30,000 + 2,000)

10.2 eSK without Porta Cabin

No. of One Time Cost (Rs.) Monthly Recurring
Staff Cost (Rs.)
Two 1,30,000 17,000
(80,000 + 40,000 + 10,000) (15,000 + 2,000)

Three 1,70,000 32,000

(1,20,000 + 40,000 + 10,000) (30,000 + 2,000)

11. FUNDS FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF eSEWA KENDRA

eSK can be established by utilizing the funds available with the High Court
Computerization Committee out of budget allocated for Phase-II of eCourts Project as a pilot
scheme.

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12

12. ROLLING OUT OF eSEWA KENDRA IN HIGH COURTS

Hon’ble Dr. Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, Chairman, eCommittee of Supreme Court of India
has approved and directed that eSK shall be established and operationalized in all High Court
Complexes and additional Bench Complexes of High Court on or by 15th May, 2020.

13. ROLLING OUT OF eSEWA KENDRA IN DISTRICT COURTS

Hon’ble Dr. Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, Chairman, eCommittee of Supreme Court of India
has approved and directed that eSK shall be established and operationalized in one District
Court Complex, to begin with, in the State/UT on or by 15th May, 2020. The specific District
Court Complex where eSK is to be established as of now may be chosen by the Hon’ble Chief
Justice of the High Court.

14. Message from Hon’ble Dr. Justice D.Y. Chandrachud

eCommittee is of the firm belief that eSewa Kendra shall go a long way in leveraging the
accessibility of eCourts related projects for litigants and Members of the Bar would strengthen
and sub serve the ‘Access to Justice for all’ in a friendly and convenient manner.

Surinder S. Rathi
Member (Processes)
eCommittee, Supreme Court of India

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DIGITAL NI ACT
COURTS, DELHI

Procedure to Access eFiled NI Act Case Files by MMs

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STEP 01
 The learned Judges is being provided with VPN
connection to access to the LAYERS Servers, centrally
hosted at Tis Hazari Courts, Delhi.

 The LAYERS servers are seamlessly connected to 45

different physical database of CIS’s latest version to
access the court data within the LAYERS Judge’s
Dashboard.

 Judges will have to connect to VPN First.

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STEP 02
 Judges will then connect to the LAYERS 2.0 software
through a dedicated URL

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STEP 03
 Upon using correct username, password and OTP,
judges will land to LAYERS 2.0 Dashboard

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STEP 04
 An option of E-Court is placed on left side menu Clicking E-
Court option, judges will land to their E-court Dashboard, which
has several stats and options

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STEP 05
 Clicking Causelist or Today’s Cases option will land to
causelist of that day which can toggles as required

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STEP 06
 Clicking Case No. / CNR No. will land to case details
and clicking Case Title will land to scanned case file

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CASE DETAILS PAGE
 Case details pages have comprehensive case details
with document view, download and upload options

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CASE DETAILS PAGE
 Case details pages have comprehensive case details
with document view, download and upload options

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CASE DETAILS PAGE
 Case details pages also have case history page
where business, order and documents can be viewed

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CASE DOCUMENTS PAGE
 Case documents page have two different options of viewing
scanned case file – 1. Case Type wise 2. Date Wise

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CASE DOCUMENTS PAGE
 Case documents page have two different options of viewing
scanned case file – 1. Case Type wise 2. Date Wise.

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HIGH COURT OF DELHI : NEW DELHI
(Office of State Court Management Systems Committee)

NI ACT COMPLAINT META DATA

(To be filled by Complainant)

A. Particulars of Complainant:
1. Name:
2. Gender (Male/Female/Others/Legal Entity):
3. Age:
4. Parentage:
5. In case, complaint is filed through other person - Name of Authorized
Representative/ Power of Attorney Holder:
6. Address:
7. Mobile No:
8. Email Id:
9. Status of Complainant, if other than individual (Company/Firm/other)
details of Documents filed (Company Master Data, Form 32 for
Directors, Partnership Deed, any other):
10. Details of the advocate of the Complainant: (Name, enrolment ID,
Mobile no., email id):
11. Name of Complainant’s Bank where cheque was presented:
i. Address of the Bank Branch:
ii. IFSC Code:

B. Details of Accused (Add additional templates as per need):

1. Name:
2. Gender (Male/Female/Others):
3. Age:
4. Parentage:
5. Address:
6. Mobile No:
7. Email Id:

C. Details where accused is a Company/Firm:

1. Name:
2. Registered address:
3. Name of Managing Director/Partners:
4. Name of signatory of dishonoured cheque:
5. Name of persons vicariously liable for the Company/Firm:

D. Details of financial liability (Loan, sale of goods/services, lease/license & others):

1. Nature of liability for which cheque was received:
2. In cases of friendly loan, provide the following particulars:
i. Date when the borrower approached the Complainant for loan:
ii. Date when the loan was advanced:
iii. Place at which the loan was advanced:
iv. Persons in whose presence the loan was advanced:
v. Mode of advancement of loan (cash/ cheque/ Bank transaction/
others):
Use separate templates depending upon the nature of liability.

E. Particulars of Cheque (Add additional templates as per need):

1. Cheque Number:
2. Date on the cheque:
3. Amount (in figure) on the cheque:
4. Amount (in words) on the cheque:

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5. Date when the Complainant received the cheque from accused:
6. Name of the Bank on which the dishonoured cheque is drawn:
i. Address of the Bank Branch:
ii. IFSC Code:
7. Date when the cheque was presented to the Bank lastly:
8. Number of times this cheque was presented:
9. Date on Cheque Return Memo:
10. Date when information about dishonour was received by the
Complainant:
11. Reason(s) for dishonour of cheque:

F. Particulars of Legal Demand Notice:

1. Date on Legal Demand Notice:
2. Date when the Legal Demand Notice was dispatched:
3. Mode of dispatch of Legal Demand Notice (Physical/Electronic)
[personal, Speed post, Regd. Post, Courier, E-mail, others]:
4. Whether the Complainant relies on presumption of law for service:
5. If not, the actual date of service of Legal Demand Notice:
6. Whether reply to Legal Demand Notice was received: (Yes/No)
7. If Yes, provide the date of receiving of reply:

G. Additional particulars of criminal complaint:

1. Date when the 15 days from service of Legal Demand Notice was
complete:
2. Date of accrual of cause of action:
3. Date when the limitation of one month expires:
4. Whether the complaint is filed within limitation: (Yes/No)
5. If No, whether the Complainant is filing condonation application:

H. Other Details:
1. Name of PS within which the offence is committed:
2. Whether any other case filed/pending with respect to the transaction (Yes/No)
in question/cheque:
3. If Yes, the details thereof (CNR Number be mentioned):
4. Whether you want the remittance/payment by the accused in the
aforementioned account of yours as mentioned above (Yes/No):
5. If no, the No. of the account, Name of the Bank, Address of the Branch,
IFSC Code of the branch in which you want the remittance/payment:
6. Court fee paid:
7. Mode of payment of such court fee:

I. Recourse to ADR:
1. Complainant willing to settle by Mediation/ Lok Adalat: (Yes/ No)

J. Supporting documents:
1. Number of documents attached in e-file:
2. Particulars of documents so attached:
3. Undertaking of the Complainant for filing original documents:

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DETAILS OF THE 34 MM (NI ACT) DIGITAL COURTS (DISTRICT-WISE)

Complex District Name of Presiding Judge Digital Court

(Mr./Ms.)
Tis Hazari Central Akriti Mahendru MM (NI Act) Digital Court-01, Central, THC
Akansha Gautam MM (NI Act) Digital Court-02,Central, THC
Preeti Rajoria MM (NI Act) Digital Court-03,Central, THC
West Mohit Sharma MM (NI Act) Digital Court-01, West, THC
Chhaya Tyagi MM (NI Act) Digital Court-02, West, THC
Patiala New Delhi Jyoti Maheshwari MM (NI Act) Digital Court-01, New Delhi, PHC
House Nidhi Bala MM (NI Act) Digital Court-02,New Delhi, PHC
Padma Landol MM (NI Act) Digital Court-03,New Delhi, PHC
Karkardooma East Tushar Gupta MM (NI Act) Digital Court,East, KKD
North-East Kapil Kumar MM (NI Act) Digital Court,North-East, KKD
Shahdra Prayank Nayak MM (NI Act) Digital Court,Shahdara, KKD
Rohini North Neha Gupta Singh MM (NI Act) Digital Court, North, Rohini
North-West Udita Jain MM (NI Act) Digital Court-01,North-West, Rohini
Ritika Kansal MM (NI Act) Digital Court-02,North-West, Rohini
Lalit Kumar MM (NI Act) Digital Court-03,North-West,Rohini
Renu MM (NI Act) Digital Court-04,North-West, Rohini
Dwarka South-West Surpreet Kaur MM (NI Act) Digital Court-01,South-West, Dwarka
Vaibhav Kumar MM (NI Act) Digital Court-02,South-West,Dwarka
Nidhish Kumar Meena MM (NI Act) Digital Court-03,South-West,Dwarka
Shipra Dhankar MM (NI Act) Digital Court-04,South-West, Dwarka
Umang Joshi MM (NI Act) Digital Court-05,South-West, Dwarka
Manuj Kaushal MM (NI Act) Digital Court-06,South-West,Dwarka
Neha Saini MM (NI Act) Digital Court-07,South-West,Dwarka
Gaurav Goyal MM (NI Act) Digital Court-08,South-West,Dwarka
Ebbani Aggarwal MM (NI Act) Digital Court-09,South-West, Dwarka
Saket South Neha Priya MM (NI Act) Digital Court-01,South, Saket
Nidhi Singh MM (NI Act) Digital Court-02,South, Saket
Chhavi Bansal MM (NI Act) Digital Court-03,South, Saket
Abhitesh Kumar MM (NI Act) Digital Court-04,South, Saket
Kanika Agarwal MM (NI Act) Digital Court-05. South, Saket
Aridaman Singh Cheema MM (NI Act) Digital Court-06,South, Saket
South-East Paras Dalal MM (NI Act) Digital Court-01,South-East,Saket
Akanksha Garg MM (NI Act) Digital Court-02,South-East,Saket
Raghav Sharma MM (NI Act) Digital Court-03,South East, Saket
Total 34 34

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List of email IDs of Digital NI Act Courts in Delhi

Complex District No. of Courts Email IDs of Digital Courts

Tis Hazari Central 3 [email protected]

[email protected]
[email protected]
West 2 [email protected]
[email protected]
Patiala House New Delhi 3 [email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
Karkardooma East 1 [email protected]
North-East 1 [email protected]
Shahdara 1 [email protected]
Rohini North 1 [email protected]
North-West 4 [email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
Dwarka South-West 9 [email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
Saket South 6 [email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
South-East 3 [email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
Total 34

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HIGH COURT OF DELHI: NEW DELHI

NOTIFICATION

No. 325 /Rules/DHC Dated: 01.06.2020

VIDEO CONFERENCING RULES

Preface
Whereas it is expedient to consolidate, unify and streamline the procedure
relating to the use of video conferencing for Courts; and

In exercise of its powers under Articles 225 and 227 of the Constitution of India,
the High Court of Delhi makes the following Rules.

Chapter I – Preliminary

1. These Rules shall be called the “High Court of Delhi Rules for Video
Conferencing for Courts 2020".

(i) These Rules shall apply to such courts or proceedings or classes of

courts or proceedings and on and from such date as the High Court
may notify in this behalf.

2. Definitions

In these Rules, unless the context otherwise requires:

(i) "Advocate" means and includes an advocate entered in any roll

maintained under the provisions of the Advocates Act, 1961 and shall
also include government pleaders/advocates and officers of the
department of prosecution.

(ii) "Commissioner" means a person appointed as commissioner under the

provisions of Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (CPC), or the Code of
Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPC), or any other law in force.

(iii) "Coordinator" means a person nominated as coordinator under Rule

5.

(iv) "Court" includes a physical Court and a virtual Court or tribunal.

(v) "Court Point" means the Courtroom or one or more places where the
Court is physically convened, or the place where a Commissioner or an
inquiring officer holds proceedings under the directions of the Court.
1

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(vi) "Court User" means a user participating in Court proceedings through
video conferencing at a Court Point.

(vii) "Designated Video Conferencing Software" means software provided

by the High Court from time to time to conduct video conferencing.

(viii) “Exceptional circumstances” include illustratively a pandemic, natural

calamities, circumstances implicating law and order and matters
relating to the safety of the accused and witnesses.

(ix) "Live Link" means and includes a live television link, audio-video
electronic means or other arrangements whereby a witness, a required
person or any other person permitted to remain present, while
physically absent from the Courtroom is nevertheless virtually present
in the Courtroom by remote communication using technology to give
evidence and be cross-examined.

(x) "Remote Point" is a place where any person or persons are required to
be present or appear through a video link.

(xi) "Remote User" means a user participating in Court proceedings

through video conferencing at a Remote Point.

(xii) "Required Person" includes:

a. the person who is to be examined; or

b. the person in whose presence certain proceedings are to be

recorded or conducted; or

c. an Advocate or a party in person who intends to examine a

witness; or

d. any person who is required to make submissions before the

Court; or

e. any other person who is permitted by the Court to appear

through video conferencing.

(xiii) “Rules” shall mean these Rules for Video Conferencing for Courts and
any reference to a Rule, Sub-Rule or Schedule shall be a reference to
a Rule, Sub-Rule or Schedule of these Rules.

Chapter II - General Principles

3. General Principles Governing Video Conferencing

(i) Video conferencing facilities may be used at all stages of judicial proceedings
and proceedings conducted by the Court.

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(ii) All proceedings conducted by a Court via video conferencing shall be
judicial proceedings and all the courtesies and protocols applicable to a
physical Court shall apply to these virtual proceedings. The protocol provided
in Schedule I shall be adhered to for proceedings conducted by way of video
conferencing.

(iii) All relevant statutory provisions applicable to judicial proceedings including

provisions of the CPC, CrPC, Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, Indian Evidence
Act, 1872 (Evidence Act), and Information Technology Act, 2000 (IT Act),
shall apply to proceedings conducted by video conferencing.

(iv) Subject to maintaining independence, impartiality and credibility of judicial

proceedings, and subject to such directions as the High Court may issue,
Courts may adopt such technological advances as may become available
from time to time.

(v) The Rules as applicable to a Court shall mutatis mutandis apply to a

Commissioner appointed by the Court to record evidence and to an inquiry
officer conducting an inquiry.

(vi) There shall be no unauthorised recording of the proceedings by any person or

entity.

(vii) The person defined in Rule 2(xii) shall provide identity proof as recognised by
the Government of India/State Government/Union Territory to the Court point
coordinator via personal email. In case of identity proof not being readily
available the person concerned shall furnish the following personal details:
name, parentage and permanent address, as also, temporary address if any.

4. Facilities recommended for Video Conferencing

The following equipment is recommended for conducting proceedings by video

conferencing at the Court Point and the Remote Point:

(i) Desktop, Laptop, mobile devices with internet connectivity and

printer;
(ii) Device ensuring uninterrupted power supply;
(iii) Camera;
(iv) Microphones and speakers;
(v) Display unit;
(vi) Document visualizer;
(vii) Provision of a firewall;
(viii) Adequate seating arrangements ensuring privacy;
(ix) Adequate lighting; and
(x) Availability of a quiet and secure space

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5. Preparatory Arrangements

5.1 There shall be a Coordinator both at the Court Point and at the Remote Point
from which any Required Person is to be examined or heard. However,
Coordinator may be required at the Remote Point only when a witness or a
person accused of an offence is to be examined.

5.2 In the civil and criminal Courts falling within the purview of the district
judiciary, persons nominated by the High Court or the concerned District
Judge, shall perform the functions of Coordinators at the Court Point as well
as the Remote Point as provided in Rule 5.3.

5.3 The Coordinator at the Remote Point may be any of the following:

Sub Rule Where the Advocate or Required The Remote Point

Person is at the following Remote Coordinator shall be:-
Point:-
5.3.1 Overseas An official of an Indian
Consulate / the relevant
Indian Embassy / the
relevant High
Commission of India
5.3.2 Court of another state or union territory of Any authorized official
India nominated by the
concerned District Judge
5.3.3 Any authorized person /
Mediation Centre or office of District Legal official nominated by the
Services Authority Chairperson or Secretary
of the concerned District
Legal Services Authority.
5.3.4 Jail or prison The concerned Jail
Superintendent or Officer-
in-charge of the prison.
5.3.5 Hospitals administered by the Central Medical Superintendent
Government, the State Government or or an official authorized
local bodies by them or the person in
charge of the said
hospital
5.3.6 Observation Home, Special Home, The Superintendent or
Children's Home, Shelter Home, or any Officer in charge of that
institution referred to as a child facility child facility or an official
(collectively referred to as child facilities) authorized by them.
and where the Required Person is a
juvenile or a child or a person who is an
inmate of such child facility.
5.3.7 Women’s Rescue Homes, Protection The Superintendent or
Homes, Shelter Homes, Nari Niketans or Officer-in-charge of the
any institution referred to as a women’s women’s facility or an
facility (collectively referred to as women’s official authorized by
facilities). them.
5.3.8 In custody, care or employment of any The Superintendent or
other government office, organization or Officer-in-charge of the
institution (collectively referred to as institutional facility or an
institutional facilities). official authorized by
them.
5.3.9 Forensic Science Lab The Administrative
officer-in-charge or their

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nominee.
5.3.10 In case of any other location The concerned Court
may appoint any person
deemed fit and proper
who is ready and willing
to render services as a
Coordinator to ensure
that the proceedings are
conducted in a fair,
impartial and
independent manner and
according to the
directions issued by the
Court in that behalf.

5.3.11 Notwithstanding the provisions of Clause 5.3.1, where witness examination is to

take place in a criminal case of a person located outside the country, the provisions of
the “Comprehensive Guidelines for investigation abroad and issue of Letters Rogatory
(LRs) / Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) Request and Service of Summons / Notices/
Judicial documents in respect of Criminal Matters” (available at
http://164.100.117.97/WriteReadData/userfiles/ISII_ComprehensiveGuidelinesMutualLegal
Assistance_17122019.pdf) will be followed to the extent they comport with the
provisions of the CrPC and the Evidence Act. Furthermore, before the Court employs
its discretion to carry out witness examination via video conference, it will obtain the
consent of the accused.

5.4 When a Required Person is at any of the Remote Points mentioned in Sub
Rule 5.3 and video conferencing facilities are not available at any of these
places the concerned Court will formally request the District Judge, in whose
jurisdiction the Remote Point is situated to appoint a Coordinator for and to
provide a video conferencing facility from proximate and suitable Court
premises.

5.5 The Coordinators at both the Court Point and Remote Point shall ensure that
the recommended requirements set out in Rule 4 are complied with so that
the proceedings are conducted seamlessly.

5.6 The Coordinator at the Remote Point shall ensure that:

5.6.1 All Advocates and/or Required Persons scheduled to appear in a

particular proceeding are ready at the Remote Point designated for video
conferencing at least 30 minutes before the scheduled time.

5.6.2 No unauthorised recording device is used.

5.6.3 No unauthorised person enters the video conference room when the
video conference is in progress.

5.6.4 The person being examined is not prompted, tutored, coaxed,

induced or coerced in any manner by any person and that the person being
examined does not refer to any document, script or device without the
permission of the concerned Court during the examination.

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5.7 Where the witness to be examined through video conferencing requires or if it
is otherwise expedient to do so, the Court shall give sufficient notice in
advance, setting out the schedule of video conferencing and, in appropriate
cases may transmit non-editable digital scanned copies of all or any part of
the record of the proceedings to the official email account of the Coordinator
of the concerned Remote Point designated under Rule 5.3.

5.8 Before the scheduled video conferencing date, the Coordinator at the Court
Point shall ensure that the Coordinator at the Remote Point receives certified
copies, printouts or a soft copy of the non-editable scanned copies of all or
any part of the record of proceedings which may be required for recording
statements or evidence, or for reference. However, these shall be permitted
to be used by the Required Person only with the permission of the Court.

5.9 Whenever required the Court shall order the Coordinator at the Remote Point
or at the Court Point to provide -

5.9.1 A translator in case the person to be examined is not conversant with

the official language of the Court.

5.9.2 An expert in sign languages in case the person to be examined is

impaired in speech and/or hearing.

5.9.3 An interpreter or a special educator, as the case may be, in case a

person to be examined is differently-abled, either temporarily or
permanently.

Chapter III - Procedure for Video Conferencing

6. Application for Appearance, Evidence and Submission by Video

Conferencing:

6.1 Any party to the proceeding or witness, save and except where proceedings
are initiated at the instance of the Court, may move a request for video
conferencing. A party or witness seeking a video conferencing proceeding
shall do so by making a request via the form prescribed in Schedule II.

6.2 Any proposal to move a request for video conferencing should first be
discussed with the other party or parties to the proceeding, except where it is
not possible or inappropriate, for example in cases such as urgent
applications.

6.3 On receipt of such a request and upon hearing all concerned persons, the
Court will pass an appropriate order after ascertaining that the application is
not filed to impede a fair trial or to delay the proceedings.

6.4 While allowing a request for video conferencing, the Court may also fix the
schedule for convening the video conferencing.

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6.5 In case the video conferencing event is convened for making oral
submissions, the order may require the Advocate or party in person to submit
written arguments and precedents, if any, in advance on the official email ID
of the concerned Court.

6.6 Costs, if directed to be paid, shall be deposited within the prescribed time,
commencing from the date on which the order convening proceedings
through video conferencing is received.

7. Service of Summons

7.1 Summons issued to a witness who is to be examined through video

conferencing, shall mention the date, time and venue of the concerned Remote
Point and shall direct the witness to attend in person along with proof of identity
or an affidavit to that effect. The existing rules regarding service of the summons
and the consequences for non-attendance, as provided in the CPC and CrPC
shall apply to service of summons for proceedings conducted by
video conferencing.

7.2 Furthermore in respect of service of summons on witnesses residing outside

the country, concerning criminal matters, the provisions of “Comprehensive
Guidelines for investigation abroad and issue of Letters Rogatory (LRs) / Mutual Legal
Assistance (MLA) Request and Service of Summons / Notices/ Judicial documents in
respect of Criminal Matters” (available at
http://164.100.117.97/WriteReadData/userfiles/ISII_ComprehensiveGuidelinesMutualLe
galAssistance_17122019.pdf) will be followed to the extent they comport with the
provisions of the CrPC and the extant laws.

8. Examination of persons

8.1 Any person being examined, including a witness shall, before being examined
through video conferencing, produce and file proof of identity by submitting an
identity document issued or duly recognized by the Government of India,
State Government, Union Territory, or in the absence of such a document, an
affidavit attested by any of the authorities referred to in Section 139 of the
CPC or Section 297 of the CrPC, as the case may be. The affidavit will inter
alia state that the person, who is shown to be the party to the proceedings or
as a witness, is the same person, who is to depose at the virtual hearing. A
copy of the proof of identity or affidavit, as the case may be, will be made
available to the opposite party.

8.2 The person being examined will ordinarily be examined during the working
hours of the concerned Court or at such time as the Court may deem fit. The
oath will be administered to the person being examined by the Coordinator at
the Court Point.

8.3 Where the person being examined, or the accused to be tried, is in custody,
the statement or, as the case may be, the testimony, may be recorded
through video conferencing. The Court shall provide adequate opportunity to
the under-trial prisoner to consult in privacy with their counsel before, during
and after the video conferencing.

8.4 Subject to the provisions for the examination of witnesses contained in the
Evidence Act, before the examination of the witness, the documents, if any,
sought to be relied upon shall be transmitted by the applicant to the witness,

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so that the witness acquires familiarity with the said documents. The applicant
will file an acknowledgement with the Court in this behalf.

8.5 If a person is examined concerning a particular document then the summons

to witness must be accompanied by a duly certified photocopy of the
document. The original document should be exhibited at the Court Point as
per the deposition of the concerned person being examined.

8.6 The Court would be at liberty to record the demeanour of the person being
examined.

8.7 The Court will note the objections raised during the deposition of the person
being examined and rule on them.

8.8 The Court shall obtain the signature of the person being examined on the
transcript once the examination is concluded. The signed transcript will form
part of the record of the judicial proceedings. The signature on the transcript
of the person being examined shall be obtained in either of the following
ways:

8.8.1 If digital signatures are available at both the concerned Court Point
and Remote Point, the soft copy of the transcript digitally signed by the
presiding Judge at the Court Point shall be sent by the official e-mail to the
Remote Point where a print out of the same will be taken and signed by the
person being examined. A scanned copy of the transcript digitally signed
by the Coordinator at the Remote Point would be transmitted by official
email to the Court Point. The hard copy of the signed transcript will be
dispatched after the testimony is over, preferably within three days by the
Coordinator at the Remote Point to the Court Point by recognised
courier/registered speed post.

8.8.2 If digital signatures are not available, the printout of the transcript
shall be signed by the presiding Judge and the representative of the
parties, if any, at the Court Point and shall be sent in non-editable scanned
format to the official email account of the Remote Point, where a printout of
the same will be taken and signed by the person examined and
countersigned by the Coordinator at the Remote Point. A non-editable
scanned format of the transcript so signed shall be sent by the Coordinator
of the Remote Point to the official email account of the Court Point, where a
print out of the same will be taken and shall be made a part of the judicial
record. The hard copy would also be dispatched preferably within three
days by the Coordinator at the Remote Point to the Court Point
by recognised courier/registered speed post.

8.9 An audio-visual recording of the examination of the person examined shall be

preserved. An encrypted master copy with hash value shall be retained as a
part of the record.

8.10 The Court may, at the request of a person to be examined, or on its own
motion, taking into account the best interests of the person to be examined,
direct appropriate measures to protect the privacy of the person examined
bearing in mind aspects such as age, gender, physical condition and
recognized customs and practices.

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8.11 The Coordinator at the Remote Point shall ensure that no person is present
at the Remote Point, save and except the person being examined and those
whose presence is deemed administratively necessary by the Coordinator for
the proceedings to continue.

8.12 The Court may also impose such other conditions as are necessary for a
given set of facts for effective recording of the examination (especially to
ensure compliance with Rule 5.6.4).

8.13 The examination shall, as far as practicable, proceed without interruption or

the grant of unnecessary adjournments. However, the Court or the
Commissioner as the case may be will be at liberty to determine whether an
adjournment should be granted, and if so, on what terms.

8.14 The Court shall be guided by the provisions of the CPC and Chapter XXIII,
Part B of the CrPC, the Evidence Act and the IT Act while examining a person
through video conferencing.

8.15 Where a Required Person is not capable of reaching the Court Point or the
Remote Point due to sickness or physical infirmity, or presence of the
required person cannot be secured without undue delay or expense, the
Court may authorize the conduct of video conferencing from the place at
which such person is located. In such circumstances, the Court may direct
the use of portable video conferencing systems. Authority in this behalf may
be given to the concerned Coordinator and/or any person deemed fit by the
Court.

8.16 Subject to such orders as the Court may pass, in case any party or person
authorized by the party is desirous of being physically present at the Remote
Point at the time of recording of the testimony, such a party shall make its
arrangement for appearance /representation at the Remote Point.

9. Exhibiting or Showing Documents to Witness or Accused at a Remote

Point

If in the course of examination of a person at a Remote Point by video

conferencing, it is necessary to show a document to the person, the Court may
permit the document to be shown in the following manner:

9.1 If the document is at the Court Point, by transmitting a copy or image of the
document to the Remote Point electronically, including through a document
visualizer; or

9.2 If the document is at the Remote Point, by putting it to the person and
transmitting a copy/image of the same to the Court Point electronically
including through a document visualizer. The hard copy of the document
countersigned by the witness and the Coordinator at the Remote Point shall
be dispatched thereafter to the Court Point via authorized courier/registered
speed post.

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10. Ensuring seamless video conferencing

10.1 The Advocate or Required Person, shall address the Court by video
conferencing from a specified Remote Point on the date and time specified in
the order issued by the Court. The presence of the coordinator will not be
necessary at the Remote point where arguments are to be addressed by an
advocate or party in person before the Court.

10.2 If the proceedings are carried out from any of the Remote Point(s) (in
situations described in Rules 5.3.1 to 5.3.9) the Coordinator at such Remote
Point shall ensure compliance of all technical requirements. However, if the
proceedings are conducted from a Remote Point falling in the situation
contemplated under Rule 5.3.10, such as an Advocate’s office, the
Coordinator at the Court Point shall ensure compliance of all technical
requirements for conducting video conferencing at both the Court Point
and the Remote Point.

10.3 The Coordinator at the Court Point shall be in contact with the concerned
Advocate or the Required Person and guide them regarding the fulfilment of
technical and other requirements for executing a successful hearing through
video conferencing. Any problems faced by such Remote Users shall be
resolved by the Court Point Coordinator. The Court Point Coordinator shall
inter alia share the link of the video conferencing hearing with such Remote
Users.

10.4 The Coordinator at the Court Point shall ensure that any document or audio-
visual files, emailed by the Remote User, are duly received at the Court
Point.

10.5 The Coordinator at the Court Point shall also conduct a trial video
conferencing, preferably 30 minutes before scheduled video conferencing to
ensure that all the technical systems are in working condition at both the
Court Point and the Remote Point.

10.6 At the scheduled time, the Coordinator at the Court Point shall connect the
Remote User to the Court.

10.7 On completion of the video conferencing proceeding, the Court shall

mention in the order sheet the time and duration of the proceeding, the
software used (in case the software used is not the Designated Video
Conferencing Software), the issue(s) on which the Court was addressed and
the documents if any that were produced and transmitted online. In case a
digital recording is tendered, the Court shall record its duration in the order
sheet along with all other requisite details.

10.8 The Court shall also record its satisfaction as to clarity, sound and
connectivity for both Court Users and Remote Users.

10.9 On the completion of video conferencing, if a Remote User believes that

she/he were prejudiced due to poor video and/or audio quality, the Remote
User shall immediately inform the Coordinator at the Court Point, who shall, in
turn, communicate this information to the Court without any delay. The Court
shall consider the grievance and if it finds substance in the grievance may

10

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declare the hearing to be incomplete and the parties may be asked to re-
connect or make a physical appearance in Court.

11. Judicial remand, the framing of charge, the examination of accused

and Proceedings under Section 164 of the CrPC

11.1 The Court may, at its discretion, authorize the detention of an accused,
frame charges in a criminal trial under the CrPC by video conferencing.
However, ordinarily judicial remand in the first instance or police remand shall
not be granted through video conferencing save and except in exceptional
circumstances for reasons to be recorded in writing.

11.2 The Court may, in exceptional circumstances, for reasons to be recorded in

writing, examine a witness or an accused under Section 164 of the CrPC or
record the statement of the accused under Section 313 CrPC through video
conferencing, while observing all due precautions to ensure that the witness
or the accused as the case may be is free of any form of coercion, threat or
undue influence. The Court shall ensure compliance with Section 26 of the
Evidence Act.

Chapter IV - General Procedure

12. General procedure

12.1 The procedure set out hereafter in this chapter is without prejudice to the
procedure indicated elsewhere in these Rules qua specific instances in which
proceedings are conducted via video conferencing.

12.2 The Coordinator at the Court Point shall ensure that video conferencing is
conducted only through a Designated Video Conferencing Software.
However, in the event of a technical glitch during a given proceeding, the
concerned Court may for reasons to be recorded permit the use of software
other than the Designated Video Conferencing Software for video
conferencing in that particular proceeding.

12.3 The identity of the person to be examined shall be confirmed by the Court
with the assistance of the Coordinator at the Remote Point as per Rule 8.1, at
the time of recording of the evidence and the same must be reflected in the
order sheet of the Court.

12.4 In civil cases, parties requesting for recording statements of the person to be
examined by video conferencing shall confirm to the Court, the location of the
person, the willingness of such person to be examined through video
conferencing and the availability of technical facilities for video conferencing
at the agreed-upon time and place.

12.5 In criminal cases, where the person to be examined is a prosecution witness

or a Court witness, or where a person to be examined is a defence witness,
the counsel for the prosecution or defence counsel, as the case may be, shall
confirm to the Court the location of the person, willingness to be examined by
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video conferencing and the time, place and technical facility for such video
conferencing.

12.6 In case the person to be examined is an accused, the prosecution will

confirm the location of the accused at the Remote Point.

12.7 Video conferencing shall ordinarily take place during the Court hours.
However, the Court may pass suitable directions concerning the timing and
schedule of video conferencing as the circumstances may warrant.

12.8 If the accused is in custody and not present at the Court Point, the Court will
order a multi-point video conference between itself, the witness and the
accused in custody to facilitate the recording of the statement of the witness
(including medical or other experts). The Court shall ensure that the defence
of the accused is not prejudiced in any manner and that the safeguards
contained in Rule 8.3 are observed.

12.9 The Coordinator at the Remote Point shall be paid such amount as
honorarium as may be directed by the Court in consultation with the parties.

13. Costs of Video Conferencing

In the absence of rules prescribed by the concerned Court, the Court may take
into consideration the following circumstances when determining and/or
apportioning the costs of video conferencing:

13.1 In criminal cases, the expenses of the video conferencing facility including
expenses involved in preparing soft copies / certified copies of the Court
record and transmitting the same to the Coordinator at the Remote Point, and
the fee payable to the translator / interpreter / special educator, as the case
may be, as also the fee payable to the Coordinator at the Remote Point, shall
be borne by such party as directed by the Court.

13.2 In civil cases, generally, the party requesting for recording evidence through
video conferencing shall bear the expenses.

13.3 Besides the above, the Court may also make an order as to expenses as it
considers appropriate, taking into account the rules / instructions regarding
payment of expenses to the complainant and witnesses, as may be prevalent
from time to time.

13.4 It shall be open to the Court to waive the costs as warranted in a given
situation.

14. Conduct of Proceedings

14.1 All Advocates, Required Persons, the party in person and/or any other
person permitted by the Court to remain physically or virtually present
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(hereinafter collectively referred to as participants) shall abide by the
requirements set out in Schedule I.

14.2 Before the commencement of video conferencing all participants, shall have
their presence recorded. However, in case a participant is desirous that their
face or name be masked, information to that effect will be furnished to the
Court Point Coordinator before the commencement of the proceeding.

14.3 The Court Point Coordinator shall send the link / Meeting ID / Room Details
via the email Id / mobile number furnished by the Advocate or Required
Person or other participant permitted to be virtually present by the Court.
Once the proceedings have commenced, no other persons will be permitted
to participate in the virtual hearing, save and except with the permission of
the Court.

14.4 The participants, after joining the hearing shall remain in the virtual lobby if
available, until they are admitted to the virtual hearing by the Coordinator at
the Court Point.

14.5 Participation in the proceedings shall constitute consent by the participants

to the proceedings being recorded by video conferencing.

14.6 Establishment and disconnection of links between the Court Point and the
Remote Point would be regulated by orders of the Court.

14.7 The Court shall satisfy itself that the Advocate, Required Person or any
other participant that the Court deems necessary at the Remote Point or the
Court Point can be seen and heard clearly and can see and hear the Court.

14.8 To ensure that video conferencing is conducted seamlessly, the difficulties, if

any, experienced in connectivity must be brought to the notice of the Court at
the earliest on the official email address and mobile number of the Court
Point Coordinator which has been furnished to the participant before the
commencement of the virtual hearing. No complaint shall subsequently be
entertained.

14.9 Wherever any proceeding is carried out by the Court under these Rules by
taking recourse to video conferencing, this shall specifically be mentioned in
the order sheet.

15. Access to Legal Aid Clinics/Camps/Lok Adalats/Jail Adalats

15.1 In conformity with the provisions of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987
and the laws in force, in proceedings related to Legal Aid Clinics, Camps, Lok
Adalats or Jail Adalats, any person who at the Remote Point is in Jail or
Prison shall be examined by the Chairman / Secretary of the District Legal
Service Authority or Members of Lok Adalats before passing any award or
orders as per law.

15.2 Such award or order shall have the same force as if it was passed by the
regular Lok Adalat or Jail Adalat.

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15.3 Copy of the award or order and the record of proceedings shall be sent to
the Remote Point.

16. Allowing persons who are not parties to the case to view the
proceedings

16.1 To observe the requirement of an open Court proceeding, members of the

public will be allowed to view Court hearings conducted through video
conferencing, except proceedings ordered for reasons recorded in writing to be
conducted in-camera. The Court shall endeavour to make available sufficient
links (consistent with available bandwidth) for accessing the proceedings.

16.2 Where, for any reason, a person unconnected with the case is present at the
Remote Point, that person shall be identified by the Coordinator at the Remote
Point at the start of the proceedings and the purpose of the presence of that
person shall be conveyed to the Court. Such a person shall continue to remain
present only if ordered so by the Court.

Chapter V – Miscellaneous

17. Reference to Words and Expressions

Words and expressions used and not defined in these Rules shall have the same
meaning as assigned to them in the CPC, the CrPC, Evidence Act, IT Act, and
the General Clauses Act, 1897.

18. Power to Relax

The High Court may if satisfied that the operation of any Rule is causing undue
hardship, by order dispense with or relax the requirements of that Rule to such
extent and subject to such conditions, as may be stipulated to deal with the case
in a just and equitable manner.

19. Residual Provisions

Matters concerning which no express provision has been made in these Rules
shall be decided by the Court consistent with the principle of furthering the
interests of justice.

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SCHEDULE I

1. All participants shall wear sober attire consistent with the dignity of the
proceedings. Advocates shall be appropriately dressed in professional attire
prescribed under the Advocates Act, 1961. Police officials shall appear in the
uniform prescribed for police officials under the relevant statute or orders. The
attire for judicial officers and court staff will be as specified in the relevant rules
prescribed in that behalf by the High Court. The decision of the Presiding
Judge or officer as to the dress code will be final.

2. Proceedings shall be conducted at the appointed date and time. Punctuality

shall be scrupulously observed.

3. The case will be called out and appearances shall be recorded on the direction
of the Court.

4. Every participant shall adhere to the courtesies and protocol that are followed
in a physical Court. Judges will be addressed as “Madam/Sir” or “Your
Honour”. Officers will be addressed by their designation such as “Bench
Officer/Court Master”. Advocates will be addressed as “Learned
Counsel/Senior Counsel”

5. Advocates, Required Persons, parties in person and other participants shall

keep their microphones muted till they are called upon to make submissions.

6. Remote Users shall ensure that their devices are free from malware.

7. Remote Users and the Coordinator at the Remote Point shall ensure that the
Remote Point is situated in a quiet location, is properly secured and has
sufficient internet coverage. Any unwarranted disturbance caused during video
conferencing may if the Presiding Judge so directs render the proceedings
non-est.

8. All participants’ cell phones shall remain switched off or in aeroplane mode
during the proceedings.

9. All participants should endeavour to look into the camera, remain attentive and
not engage in any other activity during the proceedings.

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SCHEDULE II

Request Form for Video Conference

1. Case Number / CNR Number (if any)

2. Cause Title
3. Proposed Date of conference (DD/MM/YYYY):___________
4. Location of the Court Point(s):______________
5. Location of the Remote Point(s):_______________________
6. Names & Designation of the Participants at the Remote Point:
___________________
7. Reasons for Video Conferencing:
In the matter of:

8. Nature of Proceedings: Final Hearing Motion Hearing Others

I have read and understood the provisions of Rules for Video Conferencing for Courts
(hyperlink). I undertake to remain bound by the same to the extent applicable to me. I
agree to pay video conferencing charges if so, directed by the Court.

Signature of the applicant/authorised signatory:

Date:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For use of the Registry / Court Point Coordinator

A) Bench assigned:
B) Hearing:
Held on (DD/MM/YYYY):
Commencement Time:
End time:
Number of hours:
C) Costs:
Overseas transmission charges if any:
To be Incurred by Applicant /Respondent:
To be shared equally:
Waived; as ordered by the Court:

Signature of the authorised officer:

Date:

BY ORDER
Sd/-
(MANOJ JAIN)
REGISTRAR GENERAL

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