‘Reminder To All For Strict Compliance’: Gujarat High Court Implements New Methodology For Pending Cases' Listing
The Gujarat High Court has issued a circular on November 3, 2023, introducing a new methodology for ensuring the next listing date in all pending cases. The circular, which came into effect from September 1, 2023, contains specific instructions in clauses 13, 14, and 15, which are as under:“13. An online mechanism for submission of requests for early listing of matters would be developed in...
The Gujarat High Court has issued a circular on November 3, 2023, introducing a new methodology for ensuring the next listing date in all pending cases. The circular, which came into effect from September 1, 2023, contains specific instructions in clauses 13, 14, and 15, which are as under:
“13. An online mechanism for submission of requests for early listing of matters would be developed in a prescribed format, for being taken up. by the Court on a particular date allocated by the system and communicated to the concerned. The matters so requested will be given a date as fixed by the Court upon such requests or on the applications filed for fixing of date.
14. Matters, except fresh-matters, can be listed only on Court Given Next Listing Date (CGNLD) or System Generated Next Listing Date (SGNLD) or on the dates fixed by the Court upon online listing request or applications filed for fixing of date.
15. There shall not be any manual intervention by whomsoever in either excluding or including a matter from or into the causelists, except as prescribed hereinabove.”
As per the Circular, the practice of preparing Per-Court Board on the manual slips for urgent circulation, in the Old format pertaining to the roster assigned to the Court concerned, has been discontinued with the implementation of the above methodology.
The Online mechanism for submission of requests for early listing of the matters has been developed and is in place.
The Circular states that as per the methodology, in case of urgency, in a pending matter, for preparation of the Per-Court Board, only two modes are available:
(i) On an order passed on the application for fixing date for hearing, or
(ii) On the request made on Online urgent mentioning platform.
The Circular reiterates that in both the above cases there is a requirement of a judicial order passed on the aforesaid application filed by any of the above modes, to place the matter on the Per-Court Board of the Court having assigned roster.
In case of any extreme urgency, application for fixing date filed in the registry on the same day may be circulated as in the case of a fresh application, on the request for urgency being accepted by the Court having roster. In such a matter, the Registry would be required to prepare the Per-Court Board on a judicial order passed for fixing or preponing the date.
In any case, the Registry cannot prepare the Per Court Board, without any judicial order of the Court having roster, on the basis of Manual Slip forwarded by the Court Master.
The Circular which has been issued by the Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal, mentions, “It has come to my knowledge that inspite of the said instructions, the Court Masters of certain Courts are still sending manual slips I circulate the matters, other than fresh matters, on the Per-Court Board, on the date purportedly fixed by the Court on the oral mentioning by the parties or the Counsels.”
“This practice is not in the interest of the Administration of Justice and may tarnish the image of the institution. It needs to be curbed forthwith,” the Circular adds.
It has been clarified that these instructions are not applicable in the matter of Circulation of the 'Note for Speaking to Minutes,' which would otherwise be a fresh matter.