Situation In Record Rooms Of District Courts Is Grim; Process Of Weeding Out Needs To Be Carried Out Expeditiously: Delhi HC
The Delhi High Court observed that the situation of record rooms of district courts is grim and the process of weeding out of the record rooms needed to be carried out expeditiously.
The Court took the new report of the Registrar General on record after a request was made that new developments have taken place with respect to Courts.
The bench of Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora observed, “this Court cannot lose sight of the fact that the situation in record rooms of the District Courts is grim and the process of weeding out of the record needs to be carried out expeditiously and monitored on regular basis.”
The High Court in January this year passed various directions and also directed the Registrar General to file a compliance report which was filed in February.
The Counsel for the High Court, Advocate Shubham Mahajan submitted that the centralized filing of interim applications and their registration already stands addressed, as the centralized filing system has been implemented in all the District Courts.
It was further submitted that mandatory e-filing has been extended to all Civil Courts and criminal complaint cases in the District Courts, consequently, the advocates and the parties are required to file all interim applications and documents through the e-filing portal alone wherein every e-filing gets registered.
The Court noted that concerning the weeding out of the record, it is stated that the necessary amendments have been already carried out, the criterion for petty cases and cases for historical importance have been decided, committees to monitor weeding out have been constituted in each District Court and around 52,000 files have already been weeded out.
Accordingly, the Court directed the Principal District and Sessions Judges of all Districts of District Courts in Delhi to monitor the progress of weeding out of cases in their respective districts and take effective steps in this regard.
The Court also directed the Principal District & Sessions Judges of all the District Courts to file quarterly reports in the High Court.
Finally, the Court listed the matter for compliance in September.
Cause Title: Karan S Thukral v. The District & Session Judges (Neutral Citation: 2024:DHC:3179-DB)
Appearance:
Appellant: Adv. Vaishnavi
Respondent: SC Avnish Ahlawat, Adv. Tania Ahlawat, Adv. Nitesh Kumar Singh, Adv. Laavanya Kaushik, Adv. Aliza Alam, Adv. Mohnish Sehrawat, Adv. Shubham Mahajan
