Key words :- Madras H.C. , Justice M. Sundar , Justice R. Sakthivel , Certified copy.
“Trial courts shall accept downloaded order copies from the Court’s official website”
(A bench of Justices M. Sundar and R. Sakthivel mentioned)
The Hon’ble High Court of Madras on Tuesday, 1 August , 2023 mentioned that the trial courts shall not insist on the certified copies of the orders or judgements of the high courts.
This is with regards to the fact that ‘The orders that are downloaded from the Court’s official website carry the same authority as the certified copies’.
This practice is efficient to save time and reduce a lot of inconvenience and the judicial officers should not insist on producing certified copies.
The Court made an oral observation while pronouncing its order on the appeal that had been filed by Madurai based lawyer Mohammed Abbas, who was arrested by the, ‘National Investigating Agency (NIA)’ in May of this year on charges of being associated with the banned Popular Front of India.
“It is high time we make use of technology. Certified copies and copies downloaded from our website are the same. What is the difference? I am only saying this because it will save time. Tomorrow, if you were to require an order copy in a case of emergency, say where one was to be taken in police custody immediately. I am just giving an example here, then what will you do?” the Court asked.
Advocate R.Vivekananthan said, “Waiting for the certified copy was likely to take time and that would mean Abbas will have to stay in prison until the certified copy is available.”
At this, the Court mentioned :-
- It didn’t think a written direction was required.
- Certified copies and order copies downloaded from the official website were all the same.
When R.Vivekananthan insisted, the bench asked the other members of the Bar present in Court what their experiences had been when submitting orders or judgements of the High Court before the trial courts.
Additional public prosecutor, E Raj Thilak, the NIA special public prosecutor N Baskaran and advocate M Velmurugan all said that while some judicial officers accept downloaded copies, most insist on certified copies.
The Court then directed Raj Thilak to ensure that the special court accepts the downloaded copy in Abbas’ case.
Written by :- RATNESH TEMBE, College :- Department of Law, PIMR , Indore .An intern under LEGAL VIDHIYA.
BAR AND BENCH , https://www.barandbench.com/news/litigation/madras-high-court-asks-trial-courts-not-insist-certified-order-copies-hc-orders-judgments , LAST VISITED :- 02 August, 2023.
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