Digitized Court record

4654 DG/202 2 (1) रजिस्ट्री सं. डी.एल.- 33002/99 REGD. No. D. L. -33002/99 EXTRAORDINARY PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY PART II—I GOVERNMENT OF THE NATIONAL CAPITAL TERRITORY OF DELHI No. 22] DELHI, TUESDAY, JULY 18, 2023/ASHADHA 27, 194 5 [N. C. T. D. No. 144 GOVERNMENT OF INDIA SG-DL-E-19072023-247462 2 DELHI GAZETTE : EXTRAORDINARY PART II—I] 4 DELHI GAZETTE : EXTRAORDINARY PART II—I] HIGH COURT OF DELHI: NEW DELHI NOTIFICATION New Delhi, the 18th July, 2023 No. 60/Rules/DHC. —In exercise of powers conferred under section 7 of the Delhi High Court Act, 1966 (act 26 of 1966) and Article 227 of the constitution of India, the High Court of Delhi with the previous approval of the Lt. Governor of National Capital Territory of Delhi, makes the following rules for providing electronic inspection of the digitized Court record of the High Court as well District Courts a nd Tribunal under its control and supervision. 1. Preface These Rules shall govern the procedure related to the electr onic inspection of the digitized Court record of the High Court as well District Courts and Tribunal under its control and supervision. These Rules shall come into force from the date of publication in the official gazette and shall be called “The Delhi Hi gh Court Rules for Electronic Inspection of Digitized Court Records, 2023”. The facility of electronic inspection of court record shall be in addition to the existing facility of providing physical inspection as provided in Part A of Chapter 5, Volume V o f Rules of High Court of Delhi. 2. Definitions (1) In these Rules, unless the context otherwise requires: a) Applicant means a party or authorised agent as stated in Part A of Chapter 5, Volume V of Rules of the High Court of Delhi. b) Action includes all judicial proceedings instituted in the High Court, District Court or Tribunal such as suits, criminal complaints, appeals, civil or criminal writ, revision, contempt, execution, arbitration petitions, probate cases and interlocutory applications. c) Authorise d official means an official(s) not below the rank of Administrative officer Judicial (A.O.J.) authorised for administering and dealing with matters connected with or relating to electronic Inspection of 6 DELHI GAZETTE : EXTRAORDINARY PART II—I] the court records in the High Court. In so far as th e District Courts or Tribunals are concerned, any official(s) authorised in this regard by the competent authority. d) Court Record means digitized record of actions including Miscellaneous file. e) Digitized record means the record of actions which is available in digital form. f) District Courts means and includes the courts established and functioning under the control and supervision of the High Court. g) e-Inspection means ordinary electronic inspection of the court record by parties or authorised agent, by electronic means as may be made available by the High Court, District Courts and the Tribunal from time to time. h) Electronic application means application for electronic inspection filed through electronic mode on the official web portal or mobile application of the High Court, District Court or Tribunal as the case may be. i) High Court means the High Court of Delhi. j) High Court Rules means the Rules of High Court of Delhi. k) Objections: means and includes deficiencies and errors pointed out by the authorised of ficial in the electronic application. l) Registry : means the Registry of the High Court of Delhi. m) Standard operating Procedure means the procedure for application, scrutiny, processing, delivery and other related matters of e -Inspection prescribed by the Reg istry of Court or Competent Authority in case of District Court or Tribunal. n) Technical failure means a failure of the court's hardware, software, and/or telecommunications facility which results in the impossibility of submitting a file electronically. Te chnical failure does not include malfunctioning of the equipment of the person submitting an e -file. o) Third Party means and includes any person or entity who is not a party to the action or who is seeking to become a party or to intervene in an action. p) Tribunal means and includes all Tribunals under the control and supervision of the High Court . q) Working Day means and includes a day when the Registry of the Court is working under the Calendar published or as directed by the Court. (2) The words and expre ssions used herein and not defined but defined in Rules of High Court of Delhi shall have the meaning respectively assigned to them in the said Rules. 3. General Instructions 3.1 Electronic application for e -Inspection court record shall be made by vis iting the official web portal or the mobile application of the Court, District Court or Tribunal as the case may be. 3.2 An applicant can move only one electronic application in an action, at a given time. 3.3 Any person who is unable to access the e -application portal due to technical failure, can apply for physical inspection of the court record as provided in Part A of Chapter 5, Volume V of Rules of the High Court of Delhi. 3.4 In actions where the electronic record is heavy data file and cannot b e easily shared conveniently, the authorised officer may share it through appropriate electronic mode(s) and inform the applicant in this regard. 3.5 In cases where the electronic record is not easily available in digitised form or there is hardship in d igitizing the same, the authorised officer may inform the applicant (through electronic mode) about the option to convert the application to one for physical inspection and seek confirmation (through electronic mode) within seven (07) days from intimation. Upon failure of the applicant to give any confirmation within stipulated period, the electronic application shall be rejected. Upon receipt of confirmation from the applicant, the application shall be treated as the one for physical inspection. 4. Steps for Registration 4.1 To file electronic application for e -Inspection, the applicant shall register on official web -portal of the High Court as per the procedure prescribed in the e -Filing Rules of the High Court of Delhi, 2021. 4.2. The registration for District Court or Tribunal(s) may be carried out as per the procedure prescribed and published on their website by them. 4.3 Upon scrutiny, the user login ID credentials will be shared by way of electronic means. 5. Access to Records The access to Cour t records for e -inspection by applicants shall be limited to the persons as stated in Part A of Chapter 5, Volume V of Rules of the High Court of Delhi and the provisions therein shall apply. 6. Mode of Electronic Application 6.1 An application of e -Inspe ction can be made only through the electronic mode, on the official website or mobile application of the High Court, District Court or Tribunal, upon payment of prescribed Court fee. 6.2 For computing the day, date and time on which electronic application for e -Inspection is made, Indian Standard Time (I.S.T.) shall apply. 6.3 Electronic application for e -Inspection filed online after 1600 hours on any day, will be treated as filed on the date which follows the actual filing date provided it is a court wo rking day. Applications filed on a day declared as gazetted holiday or on a day when the court is closed, will be regarded as having been filed on the next working day. 6.4 The facility for online filing of electronic application for e -Inspection on offici al website or mobile application etc. shall be made available twenty -four hours every day, subject to breakdown, server downtime, system maintenance or such other unforeseen exigencies. Where online filing of electronic application is not possible for any of the reasons set out above, parties may approach the designated counters for moving physical application for e - Inspection between 1000 hours am to 1500 hours on court working days. 7. Scrutiny 7.1 The authorised official shall conduct scrutiny of the ap plications received through electronic mode, as per the extant Standard Operating Procedure for scrutiny prescribed by the Registry of High Court or Competent Authority in case of District Court or Tribunal. The objections, if any, shall be communicated to the party through prescribed electronic mode. In case the applicant fails to remove the objections within seven (07) days or stipulated time, the application will stand rejected. 7.2 Upon removal of objections the electronic application for e -Inspection shall be processed as prescribed in these Rules. E -Inspection of court record shall be subject to directions, if any, issued by the Court(s). 7.3 Subject to availability of record, the authorised officer shall make best endeavour to make available digital record for e -Inspection in next three (03) working days. In case of any delay in making available the record for e -Inspection, the authorised officer shall inform applicant by prescribed electronic mode. 7.4 The Court record shall be made available for e -Inspection for a period prescribed by the Registry of the Court or Competent Authority in case of District Court or Tribunal, in the Standard Operating Procedure for e -Inspection. 7.5 The authorised officer shall make available such court record for e -Inspection except the records, papers, documents, etc. which are forbidden as per rules for inspections or ordered to be kept as confidential by the Court, Registry or competent Authority. 7.6 The electronic application for e -Inspection shall be rejected if it does not follow the procedure or the protocol as may be prescribed in Rules and the Standard operating Procedure. 8. Supervision 8.1 The officer in -charge of the Inspection department(s) shall be the immediate in -charge of the internal organization of the e -Inspection electronic applications and shall be responsible for efficient monitoring of electronic applications, scrutiny, processing, delivery and other related matters. 9. Court Fee Electronic Applications for e -Inspection shall be subject to the Court fees of INR Five (05) as applicable to ordinary inspection as stipulated in Rule 4 of Part A of Chapter 5, Volume V of Rules of the High Court of Delhi, subject to exempted categories as stated therein. 10. Storage and Retrieval of electronic appli cation Electronic applications for e -Inspection shall be stored on an exclusive server maintained under the control and directions of the High Court or District Court or Tribunal. Each such electronic application will be separately labelled and encrypted to facilitate easy identification and retrieval. The security of such filings will be ensured. For continuity of operations in case of disaster, natural calamity or breakdown, a mirror image of e -applications available on the 8 DELHI GAZETTE : EXTRAORDINARY PART II—I] servers located in the Court m ay be maintained at different geographical locations, as decided from time to time by the High Court. 11. Confidentiality 11.1 The digital record shall be made available to the applicant only for the limited purpose of e -Inspection and shall not in any ma nner tantamount to certified copy. 11.2 The digital record made available to the applicant for e -Inspection is a Court record and confidential in nature. It is made available only for limited purpose of e -Inspection and meant for personal use of the appli cant. The applicant shall not use such digital record for any unauthorised purpose and shall not transmit the same to any unauthorised person or third party who is not entitled to access or inspect the record as per rules. 11.3 In case the digital Court r ecord for e -Inspection is inadvertently shared with a person who is not entitled to access or inspect the same, such person shall immediately inform about the same to the authorised official and shall not share and make any use of the said record. 12. Power to remove difficulties If any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of these Rules, the Chief Justice of the High Court shall have the power to decide the same and such decision shall be final. 13. Rules not in derogation of any other l aw The provisions of these Rules shall be in addition to and not in derogation of the provisions of any other law for the time being in force. 14. General Caution Email is not a secure medium of communication. Any communication transmitted by email can b e intercepted or read by a third party. An Advocate or litigant in person seeking to transmit confidential or sensitive document/material shall approach the Registry for requisite assistance/advice. By Order of The Court, RAVINDER DUDEJA, Registrar Gener al Uploaded by Dte. of Printing at Government of India Press, Ring Road, Mayapuri, New Delhi -110064 and Published by the Controller of Publications, Delhi -110054.