On Monday, the Delhi High Court has notified the Rules to consolidate, unify and streamline the procedure relating to the use of video conferencing in courts.
The Rules are to be called as 'High Court of Delhi Rules for Video Conferencing for Courts 2020', and shall come into effect from today, June 1st itself.
These Rules shall apply to such courts or proceedings or classes of courts or proceedings and on and from such date as the High Court may notify in this behalf.
The Rules govern all major aspects of the Court's functioning which includes service of summons, the examination of persons, exhibiting documents to witness or accused at a remote point, judicial remand, framing of charge, examination of accused and proceedings under Section 164 of the CrPC.
Here are an insight to the Rules and some Key Points:
1. Video conferencing facilities may be used at all stages of judicial proceedings and proceedings conducted by the Court.
2. All proceedings conducted by a Court via video conferencing shall be judicial proceedings and all the courtesies and protocols applicable to a physical Court shall apply to these virtual proceedings.
3.All relevant statutory provisions applicable to judicial proceedings including provisions of the CPC, CrPC, Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, Indian Evidence Act, 1872 (Evidence Act), and Information Technology Act, 2000 (IT Act), shall apply to proceedings conducted by video conferencing.
4. There shall be no unauthorised recording of the proceedings by any person or entity.
5.There shall be a Coordinator both at the Court Point and at the Remote Point from which any Required Person is to be examined or heard. His presence though at the Remote Point will be required only when a witness or a person accused of an offence is to be examined.
6.Before the scheduled video conferencing date, the Coordinator at the Court Point shall ensure that the Coordinator at the Remote Point receives certified copies, printouts or a soft copy of the non-editable scanned copies of all or any part of the record of proceedings which may be required for recording statements or evidence, or for reference. However, these shall be permitted to be used by the Required Person only with the permission of the Court.
7. While allowing a request for video conferencing, the Court may also fix the schedule for convening the video conferencing.
8.The existing rules regarding service of the summons and the consequences for non-attendance, as provided in the CPC and CrPC shall apply to service of summons for proceedings conducted by video conferencing.
9.On completion of the video conferencing proceeding, the Court shall mention in the order sheet the time and duration of the proceeding, the software used, the issue(s) addressed etc. The Court shall also record its satisfaction as to clarity, sound and connectivity for both "Court Users" and "Remote Users".
10.On the completion of video conferencing, if a "Remote User" believes that she/he was prejudiced due to poor video and/or audio quality, he/she shall immediately inform the Coordinator at the Court Point, who shall, in turn, communicate this information to the Court without any delay.
11. In criminal cases, the expenses of the video conferencing facility shall be borne by such party as directed by the Court while in civil cases, generally, the party requesting for recording evidence through video conferencing shall bear the expenses.
12.To observe the requirement of an open Court proceeding, members of the public will be allowed to view Court hearings conducted through video conferencing, except proceedings ordered for reasons recorded in writing to be conducted in-camera.
13. The Coordinator at the Court Point shall ensure that video conferencing is conducted only through a Designated Video Conferencing Software. However, in the event of a technical glitch during a given proceeding, the concerned Court may for reasons to be recorded permit the use of software other than the Designated Video Conferencing Software for video conferencing in that particular proceeding.
14. Video conferencing shall ordinarily take place during the Court hours. However, the Court may pass suitable directions concerning the timing and schedule of video conferencing as the circumstances may warrant.
15.The Coordinator at the Remote Point shall be paid such amount as honorarium as may be directed by the Court in consultation with the parties.
All participants shall have to wear sober attire consistent with the dignity of the proceedings and Advocates shall dress appropriately in professional attire prescribed under the Advocates Act, 1961.
The High Court may if satisfied that the operation of any Rule is causing undue hardship, by order dispense with or relax the requirements of that Rule to such extent and subject to such conditions, as may be stipulated to deal with the case in a just and equitable manner.
Read Rules Here:
