Delhi HC Directs Delhi Govt To Submit Affidavit Indicating The Time Required To Upgrade The Internet Lines of District Courts And For Digitising Court Records [Read Order]

Delhi High Court has directed the Delhi Government to submit an affidavit indicating the time required for upgradation of existing lease lines from 34 MBPS to 1 GBPS in each District Court Complex and for the digitisation of the court records.

While taking into consideration that the request for upgradation was made to the Delhi Government back in 2018, the Division Bench of Justice Hima Kohli and Justice Subramonium Prasad further directed the government to further explain the reason for failing to take actions for the past two and a half years on such a critical aspect.

The order has come in a PIL seeking a direction to be issued to all the Family Courts to record evidence on pending cases through video conferencing.

The said PIL is filed by a person who is aggrieved by the fact that the recording of evidence in good divorce proceedings are being held up on account of prevalent national lockdown in the wake of Covid-19, due to which, Family Courts have come to a standstill.

In the last hearing, the Division Bench of Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw and Justice Asha Menon had issued notices to Delhi Government, Headquarters of Family Courts, and the Delhi High Court.

The court had also impleaded various Bar Associations of the District Courts through the Coordination Committee of All District Courts Bar Associations and notice be issued to them also.

In today's proceedings, the Registrar of the Delhi High Court informed the Bench that repeated letters addressed by the District and Session Judge (Headquarters), Tis Hazari, Delhi and the Registrar General, High Court of Delhi to the Secretary,

(Law and Judicial), Government of NCT of Delhi, for grant of administrative approval and sanction of expenditure for enhancement and upgradation of the existing lease lines from 34 MBPS to 1 GBPS in each District Court Complex except for Rouse Avenue, no steps have been taken in that direction.

It was further to the court that the most recent reminder issued by the High Court to the Secretary, (Law and Judicial), GNCTD is dated 18.05.2020, wherein it has again been highlighted that video conferencing is an urgent requirement for conducting court proceeding during the lockdown period and necessary sanctions be accorded expeditiously.

In light of the seriousness of the matter, the court has ordered that said affidavit shall be filed by a senior officer of the GNCTD on or before 12.06.2020.

Counsels who appeared for the Petitioner: Mr. Ankur Mahindro, Mr.Ankush Satija and Ms. Sanjoli Mehrotra.

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