By Rima Majumdar and Aishwarya Hariharan
In a development aimed at facilitating the access of digitalized records of certified copies of case documents, the High Court of Delhi in exercise of powers conferred under Section 7 of the Delhi High Court Act, 1966 (Act 26 of 1966) and Article 227 of the Constitution of India, with the previous approval of the Lieutenant Governor of the National Capital Territory of Delhi, issued the “e-True Copy Rules of the High Court of Delhi, 2024” vide notification dated April 22, 2024. The notification no. 29/Rules/DHC is aimed at accessing electronic request or application(s) made for obtaining an e-True Copy created from existing digitalized records of the Court.
It has been notified that these rules shall apply to the High Court as well as the District Courts under its control and supervision of the High Court.
The said rules are in addition to the existing facility of providing attested copies as per Chapter 5, Part B of Volume V of the Delhi High Court Rules, under ‘grant of copies and translation of records’ and Chapter 17 of Volume IV under ‘preparation and supply of copies’ of the Delhi High Court Rules. It is notified that these Rules shall not be in derogation of the provisions of any other law for the time being in force. The aspects on which present Rules are silent, provisions of the aforesaid Chapter 5, part B of Volume V, and Chapter 17 of Volume IV of the High Court Rules shall apply.
Key aspects of the E-True Copy Rules of the High Court of Delhi, 2024
- As per Rule 4.1, Electronic Applications for grant of e-True Copy (certified copy) shall be made only through the official web portal or mobile application of the High Court of Delhi, District Court, as the case may be.
- As per Rule 4.2, at a given time, a party entitled to e-True Copy of records and exhibits can move only one Electronic application.
- As per Rule 4.3, in cases where the web portal or mobile applications are not accessible for getting e-Truce Copy, application can be made at the designated counters of the High Court of Delhi.
- As per Rule 4.4, if the e-True copy of the digitalized record is a heavy data file and cannot be conveniently shared through the electronic mode, the Authorized officer may opt for any other mode and inform the applicant to furnish an electronic storage device within a reasonable period to enable sharing of e-True Copy of the digitalized record.
- As per Rule 4.5, in case the digitalized copy is not available, the electronic application for e-True copy shall be treated as the one for physical certified copy and the dealing official shall inform the applicant about the same. The applicant shall deposit the fee for physical certified copy as per extant rules and on failure to deposit the fee, the application shall stand disposed of on expiry of 10 working days from the date of intimation to the applicant.
- Exemption to the aforesaid Rule 4.5 is in case where the applicant is a person with disability or not residing in Delhi. An e-True copy shall be made available to them.
- As per Rule 5.1, the procedure for registration for an applicant to file an electronic application for e-True copy is as per the prescribed rules in the e-Filing Rules of the High Court of Delhi, 2021. Likewise, the registration process for District Court will be as per procedure published on the respective District Court websites.
Further, Rules have also notified that on scrutiny of the electronic applications, if the Authorized officer finds any objections, it shall be communicated to the applicant through electronic mode. Further, the application shall lapse if the application fails to remove the objections within 10 working days from the date of communication of objections. (Rule 8.1)
As per Rule 8, the Application shall be rejected under the following three grounds:
- If the application is applied by a stranger who has no right to obtain the application.
- If the disclosure of the information is incorrect in the application or mismatch of signature.
- No Electronic application shall be allowed if it is not as per the Delhi High Court Rules.
Moreover, there shall be no fee levied for supply of e -True copies.
The effort to digitize India’s judicial system by storing, retrieving, and digitalizing court records, while also preserving the legacy data, has been extended to all High Courts in the country. The Delhi High Court is swiftly transitioning from traditional physical files to embracing digital records. In such transition period, the E-True Copy Rules of the High Court of Delhi, 2024 notified on April 22, 2024 is aimed at creating electronic applications made for obtaining e-True copy of digitalized records of the High Court and District Courts. This effort also aids in the reduction of use of paper in litigation, which in its own small way can also help the environment. As receiving certified copy of court document is a time consuming process, this Rules shall help in receiving e-True copy of digitalized records at the earliest.