Rajasthan High Court Issues Notice In PIL Seeking Broadcast Of Case Information On WhatsApp
The PIL, filed by a practising advocate submitted that initiation of practice of broadcast of information will bolster the functioning of the Court as well as the advocates.
Justice Pushpendra Singh Bhati, Justice Bipin Gupta, Rajasthan High Court
The Rajasthan High Court issued notice in Public Interest Litigation, filed by an advocate regarding broadcast of all the information related to the cases lodged by the Advocates as soon as they are uploaded in the website.
The Bench of Justice Pushpendra Singh Bhati and Justice Bipin Gupta heard the matter and issued notice to the Department of Law and Legal Affairs, Government of Rajasthan and the Registrar General, High Court of Rajasthan.
Advocate Vivek Firoda appeared in-person, while Advocate Ayush Gehlot represented the Respondents.
A Public Interest Litigation was filed by the Petitioner, who is an advocate, seeking to initiate the broadcast of all the information related to the cases lodged by the Advocates as soon as they are uploaded in the website.
The Petition highlighted that in 2023, the Supreme Court initiated an official channel on WhatsApp through which all the case related information was provided through whatsapp. Similarly, the Delhi High Court initiated a similar channel to provide information to lawyers and litigants of the Delhi High Court.
It was the submission of the Petitioner that since such initiatives truly increase day to day efficiency, but there were no rules in regard to the same at the Rajasthan High Court.
Following suggestions were made by the Petitioner:
a. Initiation of Centralised WhatsApp Channel upon which the cause lists and all the orders and defects pointed out by the registry can immediately be informed to the advocate.
b. Allowing advocates and their parties to download the certified copies of their petitions, thereby further easing the process of shifting the entire process to digital format.
c. Allowing advocates and the concerned parties the option to download e-true certified copies of the orders of the cases, thereby doing away with the current practise of getting physical certified copies.
d. Setting up practice directions along the lines of Delhi High Court wherein it becomes mandatory to serve advance copies on the government counsel in order to get the 226 petitions listed in court, thereby further easing the entire process.
Cause Title: Vivek Firoda V. The Rajasthan High Court
Click here to read/download Order