Himachal courts dispose of 7,000 cases via video conferencing

Vijay Arora

Shimla, July 7

Despite restrictive functioning of the judiciary, the Himachal High Court and various subordinate courts disposed of more than 7,000 cases via video conferencing during the lockdown period.

During this period, nearly 6,000 cases, including civil miscellaneous applications, civil writ petitions, bail applications and criminal appeals, were filed in the high court.

The HC alone disposed of 2,300 cases via video conferencing till July 2 and the subordinate courts across the state disposed of 4,819 cases till June 10.

Hearing cases via video conferencing was new to judges and lawyers and each day threw up a new challenge for them. However, the objective was to ensure that people are not deprived of their legal rights and the justice is delivered in time.

Initially, hearings through video conferencing were confined to extremely urgent matters. Gradually, the courts started taking up urgent matters of all kinds, including fresh ones. The high court has also introduced the e-filing system for filing income tax and criminal appeals.

The e-filing system has also started in the subordinate judiciary for the complaints lodged under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instrument Act. However, the high court has now started physical filing of cases, but there is no official communication as to when functioning will start. Till July 2, the total pendency in the HC stands at 68,750 cases.