HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH, BILASPUR
Bilaspur, the 15th December 2023
NOTIFICATION
No.16847/Rules/2023.⸺ In exercise of the powers conferred under Articles 225 and 227 of the Constitution of India, the High Court of Chhattisgarh hereby makes the following amendment in the Rules for Video Conferencing for Courts of the Chhattisgarh State, which shall come into force from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette of Government of Chhattisgarh :-
AMENDMENTS
1. In Rule 6, Sub-rule 6.1 to 6.6 shall be substituted with following :-
"6.1 The links available for accessing video conferencing/ hybrid hearings shall be made available in the daily cause list of each court and there shall be no requirement of making prior applications and the same may be allowed invariably."
2. "Schedule-II Request Form for Video Conference" shall be deleted.
3. After Point No.9 of the Schedule-I, "SOP (Standard Operating System" following shall be added :-
"SOP FOR VIDEO CONFERENCING/VIRTUAL HEARING BEFORE
THE HIGH COURT
1. An advocate would be entitled to appear without restriction before the High Court through a video conferencing facility. However, the High Court may regulate the participation of a litigant [or any other person] as per its Rules or Practice Directions.
2. The links for each Court shall be provided in the daily cause list, which shall be published on the website of the High Court.
3. Advocates/litigants may, if they so desire, use the facility of Video Conferencing available in the High Court premises or E-Sewa Kendra.
4. While accessing the virtual platform, an advocate may be required to enter details like name, item number, party for which she/he/they are appearing or such other information as required by the High Court. If the advocate appears in more than one matter, case numbers of all matters may be required to be provided.
6. The Advocate must be dressed in professional attire. If the advocate is not dressed in professional attire, the right of audience may be withdrawn by the Court. Similarly, a party in person must be appropriately dressed.
7. Court proceedings conducted through video conferencing are judicial proceedings for all purposes, and all protocols applicable to physical courts shall apply to virtual proceedings.
8. Cell phones of all participants shall be switched off or kept in aeroplane mode during the proceedings.
9. The Advocate/party in person may log in from his office, residence, conference room, etc., but not from a vehicle like a car. The remote location should be quiet and have sufficient internet coverage. The Advocate/Party should have the camera switched on during Court proceedings. All participants should endeavour to look into the camera, remain attentive and not engage in any other activity during the proceedings.
10. Only the Advocate/duly authorized person in the matter would be entitled to address the Court. The Court coordinator may mute/unmute any other participant(s).
11. Advocates/ participants may regulate their microphones to avoid disturbing the court proceedings. At the time of joining, the microphone should be kept muted. The microphone may be unmuted only when the matter is called out. The Court may direct the court coordinator to mute the microphone of an advocate/participant if there is a disturbance in the court proceedings.
12. If any participant indulges in an act which is considered inappropriate, she/he/they may be excluded from the VC proceedings, and action as directed by the Court may be taken in the matter.
13. No recording of the court proceedings is allowed.
14. Advocates/participants can seek assistance through the chat facility wherever available. The chat facility should be used only for seeking help from the court coordinator regarding technical assistance concerning VC hearing and/or inquiring about the item number of the case being heard. The Court coordinator would respond to such queries on a best-effort basis.
15. Advocates can give a Memo of appearance in such manner as notified by the concerned Court.
16. Each High Court may lay down a procedure for mentioning matters through online mode and place the same on the website.
17. If the number of participants who have joined the virtual proceedings exceeds or is likely to exceed the maximum log-ins permitted by the software, the court coordinator, in the first instance, may remove viewers not participating in the court proceedings. Advocates/litigants appearing in later items may also be requested to log out.
18. In cases where in-camera proceedings are required to be held, virtual hearings may be restricted to the parties and/or their advocates.
19. The present Standard Operating Procedure shall be in addition to the Video Conferencing Rules notified by the High Court and not in derogation thereof."
By order of Hon'ble the High Court
Sd/-
(Arvind Kumar Verma)
Registrar General.