Patiala House Court Issues Further Guidelines On Hearing Urgent Matters Through Video Conferencing [Read Order]

The decision has been taken in pursuance of the order of the Supreme Court in a suo moto matter, dated 06/04/20, which had directed for initiating video conferencing in district courts.

The Computer Branch of the Patiala House Court has been directed by the District and Sessions Judge Dinesh Kumar Sharma, to assist all the lawyers and litigants who are willing to avail the facility of video conferencing.

The present order also states that while the process of providing video conferencing facility through e-courts platform is underway, the lawyers can use CISCO WEBEX for the said facility in the interim period.

Lawyers can send the request for video conferencing, along with the documents for urgent matters, at phcourts@gmail.com. Thereafter, the same will be downloaded by the Incharge - Filing Counter and will subsequently forwarded to the, through WhatsApp or email, to the concerned judge.

If the judge agrees with the urgency of the matter, the Incharge - Filing Counter shall sell report of the Investigation Officer and shall also issue notice to the Chief Public Prosecutor, with a direction to file the said report before the date fixed for the hearing so that the same can be sent in advance to the opposite parties.

The IO/Public Prosecutor/ Opposite Party shall send their consent to phcourts@gmail.com, the copy of which will be sent to the opposite party forthwith, by the Computer Branch of the court.

Afterwards, the Incharge-Filing counter shall inform the next date of hearing and time slot in consultation with the judge on duty on that day or on the day when the hearing of fixed.

If the Advocates/Litigants/Police/Public Prosecutor are not equipped to conduct the hearing from their locations, the facility for video conferencing shall be made available in the Judge's Conference Room and the Computer Branch shall facilitate such a hearing.

After disposing off the matter, the judge shall immediately upload the same on the website which can be then downloaded by the parties.

The order further states that:

'In case the judge decides to grant the bail, the bail bond shall be furnished to the Duty MM stationed in the respective jails.'

In addition to this, the caretaker of the court is also directed to ensure that respective courtrooms and chambers are properly sanitized.

Click here to download the Order