Part-IV-C, Ext. 79, (Dated 17th November 2022) HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY APPELLATE SIDE NOTIFICATION No. Rule/P. 1603/2022

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RNI No. MAHBIL /2009/35527

महाराष्ट्र शासन राजपत्र

असाधारण भाग चार-क

वर्ष ८, अंक ५३] गुरुवार, नोव्हेंबर १७, २०२२/कार्त्षक २६, शके १९४४ [पृष्ट्ठठे ५९, र्कंम्त : रुपये ९.००

असाधारण क्रमांक ७९

प्ार्धकृ्त प्काशन

महाराष्ट्र शासनाव्यर्तररक्त इ्तर वैधार्नक प्ार्धकाऱ्यांनी ्तयार केलेले

(भाग एक, एक-अ व एक-ल यांमध्ये प्र्सद्ध केलेले वैधार्नक र्नयम व आदेश यांव्यर्तररक्त इ्तर)

वैधार्नक र्नयम व आदेश; या्त भार्त सरकार, उच्च न्यायालय, पोलीस आयुक्त, आयुक्त (राज्य उत्पादन शुल्क),

र्जल्हादंडार्धकारी व र्नवडणूक आयोग, र्नवडणूक न्यायार्धकरण, र्नवडणूक र्नण्षय अर्धकारी व र्नवडणूक आयोगाखालील

इ्तर प्ार्धकारी यांनी ्तयार केलेले वैधार्नक र्नयम व आदेश यांचा समावेश हो्तो.

HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY

APPELLATE SIDE

NOTIFICATION

No. Rule/P. 1603/2022.—The Hon'ble the Chief Justice and the Judges of the High Court of Judicature at Bombay in exercise of powers conferred under Article 225 and 227 of the Constitution of India and all other enabling provisions in that behalf are pleased to make the following rules which shall be applicable to the High Court of Judicature at Bombay, its Benches at Nagpur and Aurangabad and High Court of Bombay at Goa, and the District Courts and Tribunals under the control and supervision of the High Court of Bombay.

Short Title, Applicability and Commencement :

These Rules shall be called "e-Filing Rules of the High Court of Bombay 2022". They shall apply to the High Court of Judicature at Bombay, its Benches at Nagpur and Aurangabad and High Court of Bombay at Goa, and the District Courts and Tribunals under the control and supervision of the High Court of Bombay.

These Rules shall come into force from the date of Notification.

1. Preface

These Rules shall apply to on-line e-filing and e-filing through Designated Counters and facilities provided for e-filing, including e-Seva Kendras. The rules shall apply to such categories of cases

(१)

भाग चार-क-७९–१२ महाराष्ट्र शासन राजपत्र असाधारण भाग चार-क, नोव्हेंबर १७, २०२२/कार्त्षक २६, शके १९४४ as would be notified by the High Court. These Rules amend and consolidate the existing Rules and Practice Directions.

2.  Definitions

2.1 Action : includes all proceedings instituted in the Court such as suits, criminal complaints, appeals, civil or criminal writ petitions, revision petitions, contempt petitions, execution petitions, arbitration petitions, probate cases and interlocutory applications.

2.2 Administrator : means the Registrar (IT) or an officer appointed by the Chief Justice for administering and dealing with matters connected with or relating to e-filing.

2.3. Bench : means and includes one or more Judges assigned to adjudicate upon Actions or the presiding officer of the Court or Tribunal as the case may be.

2.4 Physical Filing : means Actions and pleadings filed as hard copies.

2.5 Designated Counters : means and includes those counters which find mention in Appendix-I and those that may be included or excluded from Appendix-I from time to time.

2.6 District Courts : means and includes the courts established and functioning under the control and supervision of the High Court.

2.7 Electronic Filing (e-filing) : means e-filing as prescribed through the Internet (at the web portal of the Court) and through the internet/intranet at Designated Counters, unless the context requires otherwise.

2.8 Evidence : means and includes evidence as defined under the Indian Evidence Act, 1872.

2.9 High Court : High Court means the High Court of Judicature at Bombay, its Benches at Nagpur and Aurangabad and High Court of Bombay at Goa, Panaji-Goa.

2.10 Objections : means and includes deficiencies and errors pointed out by the Registry in relation to the Actions instituted in the Court.

2.11 Opposite Party : means defendant(s), respondents, judgment debtor(s) and non applicant(s).

2.12 Party : means appellant(s), plaintiff(s), petitioner(s), complainant(s) and applicant(s).

2.13 Pleadings : means pleadings filed in support or defence of an Action including affidavits, additional affidavits and supplementary affidavits.

2.14 PDF : means an electronic document filed in a portable document format.

2.15 PDF/A : means an ISO-standardized version of the Portable Document Format (PDF) specialized for the digital preservation of electronic documents.

2.16 Registry : means the Registry of the Court.

2.17 Statement of Defence : means and includes written statements, replies, counter- affidavits and additional or supplementary affidavits.

2.18 Technical failure : means a failure of the court's hardware, software, and/or telecommunications facility which results in the impossibility of submitting a file electronically. Technical failure does not include malfunctioning of the equipment of the person submitting an e-file.

2.19 Third Party : means and includes any person or entity seeking to become a party or to intervene in an Action.

2.20 Working Day : means and includes a day when the Registry of the Court is working under the Calendar published or as directed by the Court.

2.21 Tribunal : means and includes all Tribunals under the control and supervision of the High Court.

3. General Instructions

3.1 On-line e-filing shall be made by visiting the prevailing web portal of the Court for the purpose of e-filing.

3.2 Except as provided in these Rules, Actions, whether in fresh, pending or disposed of cases, will be filed electronically by an advocate or litigant in person from their home, office or other remote location in the manner provided in these Rules.

3.3 Any person who is unable to access the e-filing portal would be entitled to make use of the facilities provided at the Designated Counters for that purpose upon payment of charges if stipulated.

3.4 Maximum size of the file shall be specified and revised from time to time by issuing practice directions.

4. Steps for Registration

4.1 Persons other than Advocates and litigants in person who are already registered on the Court web portal will take the following steps to register themselves.

(i) Advocates

(a) Should visit the prevailing web portal to view the form.

(i) For E-filing portal version 2.0 (https://efiling.ecourts.gov.in/)

(ii) For E-filing portal version 3.0 (https://filing.ecourts.gov.in/pdedev)

(b) Click the registration link.

(c) Fill the form with requisite details.

(d) Submit the filled-up form along with a self-attested copy of the Bar Council Registration Certificate or Bar Council I-card (in PDF format only).

(ii) Litigants in person

(a) Should visit the prevailing web portal to view the form.

(i) For E-filing portal version 2.0 (https://efiling.ecourts.gov.in/)

(ii) For E-filing portal version 3.0 (https://filing.ecourts.gov.in/pdedev)

(b) Click the registration link.

(c) Fill the form with requisite details.

(d) Submit the filled-up form along with the self-attested copy of any identity document issued by the Government (in PDF format only).

4.2 Litigants-in-person shall submit an affidavit/undertaking that they have not engaged an Advocate in the Action. A litigant in person who subsequently engages an Advocate, shall make an application before the Administrator for transferring the data in respect of the Action to the Advocate's account in. Once the Administrator allows the application, the data in the Action shall be transferred in the user account of the Advocate. The litigant in person will not be in a position to modify the data of the subject Action, without the permission of the Administrator.

4.3 A login ID will be allotted on the next working day if the application is found complete in all respects. The procedure for registration is set out in the prevailing e-filing web portal as per Appendix-II.

5. Frame of Pleadings

The pleadings should be clear and concise. Parties and third parties should set forth their claims/ averments in separate paragraphs. The statement of truth/ affidavit of the concerned person must bear their signature. Opposite parties should also file their replies under sequentially numbered paragraphs and headings (such as Preliminary Objections and Objections on Merits).

भाग चार-क-७९–१अ४ महाराष्ट्र शासन राजपत्र असाधारण भाग चार-क, नोव्हेंबर १७, २०२२/कार्त्षक २६, शके १९४४ Wherever verification and attestation under oath is done before Notary Public, the scanned page shall be uploaded keeping the original in custody.

Citations shall not form part of the pleadings or annexure, unless citation is relevant subject matter of the lis. Citations shall be separately filed as and when necessary.

Scrutiny and compliance with objections in any pleading e-filing shall only be by online mode only. If interaction is inevitable in such cases virtual counters with video linkage facility shall be used as and when activated.

6. Formatting

6.1 All the original typed text material including notice of motion, memorandum of parties, main petition or appeal, interlocutory application(s), reply, status report, affidavit, documents, will be prepared electronically using the following formatting:

Style:

Paper size: A-4

Top Margin: 1.5"

Bottom Margin: 1.5"

Left Margin: 1.75"

Right Margin: 1.0"

Alignment: Justified

Font: Times New Roman

Font size: 14

Line spacing: 1.5

If any document is typed in a local language in Trial Courts, it must be prepared using xxx Unicode Font 14

The High Court may issue notification / circular / Practice note defining sequence and chronology of documents and manner of pagination, manner of filing amendment for e-filing purposes for District Court and High Court.

6.2 The document should be converted into Optical Character Recognition (OCR) searchable Portable Document Format (PDF) or PDF/A using any PDF converter or in- built PDF conversion plug-in provided in the software. PDF/A is the preferred format.

6.3 A document which is not a text document and has to be enclosed with the Action, should be scanned using an image resolution of 300 DPI (Dots per inch) in OCR searchable mode and saved as a PDF document. The procedure for converting a document into an OCR searchable PDF as mentioned above and as required in clause 8.1 is set out in Appendix – III.

7. Digital Signatures

7.1 The PDF document shall be digitally signed either by the parties and/or by their Advocate. The digital signatures shall be appended on such places on the PDF document as prescribed under the extant rules. If neither the party nor the Advocate who has been engaged possess a digital signature, a print out of the Action shall be physically signed by the party concerned and/or their Advocate in accordance with rules and it shall thereafter be scanned and uploaded.

7.2 A List of recognized Digital Signature Providers and the procedure involved in appending single or multiple signatures is set out in Appendix – IV.

7.3 A litigant in person or advocate who does not possess a digital signature issued by the competent authority can authenticate e-filed documents by e-Sign based on Aadhaar authentication.

8. Dos and Don't's

8.1 The text documents and scanned documents set out in clauses 6.3 and 7.1 should be merged as a single OCR searchable PDF file and should be book-marked as per the Master Index, duly approved by the Registry. The procedure in this behalf is set out in Appendix -V.

8.2 The merged documents should be uploaded at the time of on-line e-filing. Screenshots of the manner of accessing the on-line e-filing portal and for the filing of the main case and documents including written statements, replies, replications, rejoinders, affidavits and evidence in a pending case are set out in Appendix-I.

8.3 Once e-filing is accepted, the filing or registration number shall be notified to the Advocate or litigant in person.

8.4 In so far as evidence in the form of an electronic record, such as audio and/or video files, which are to be filed in the High Court as set out in APPENDIX –VII shall be followed. As and when this facility is made available for District Courts, the procedure to be followed will be notified by the Administrator.

8.5 Special Characters are not allowed while e-filing Memo of Parties and Advocate remarks.

8.6 Document Binary File Name Standards

The following special characters are not allowed in a file name:

• A quotation mark (")

• A number sign/Pound (#)

• Per cent (%)

• Ampersand (&)

• Asterisk (*)

• Colon (:)

• Angle brackets (less than, greater than) (<>)

• A question mark (?)

• Backslash (\)

• Forward slash (/)

• Braces (left and right) ({ })

• Pipe (|)

• A tilde (~)

• The period (.) character used consecutively in the middle of the file name or at the beginning or end of the file name.

File names should not exceed 45 characters in length, including spaces. Single space must be counted as one character each.

8.7 On-line e-filing shall not be watermarked or encrypted. The e-filed documents shall not contain any virus, malware, spam-ware, trojan horse or the like. All the e-filed documents shall be legible and free of markings, track changes or annotations.

8.8 As far as possible the PDF file may be flattened free of embedded images, videos, GIF, PDF form fields and Java script elements.

9. Payment of Court Fees/Other Charges

Court fee and other charges can be paid either electronically by purchase on the on-line facility provided by the authorised agency or from the Designated Counters provided for the purpose in the High Court and District Courts or from any authorized court fee vendor. The Transaction ID६ महाराष्ट्र शासन राजपत्र असाधारण भाग चार-क, नोव्हेंबर १७, २०२२/कार्त्षक २६, शके १९४४ provided upon payment of court fee and other charges is required to be entered in the appropriate field at the time of on-line e-filing.

10. Retention of Originals

10.1 Originals of the documents, certified copies that are scanned and digitally signed by the Registrant(s) at the time of e-filing should be preserved for production or inspection as may be required by a Registrant, Registry or Bench for verification or removal of doubts.

10.2 The registry may make use of virtual counters with video linkage for quick verification any scanned or typed document e-filed cases.

10.3 The signed vakalatnama, signed and notarized/attested affidavit and any other document whose authenticity is likely to be questioned should be preserved, at least, for two years till after the final disposal of the Action. Final disposal shall include disposal of the Action by the superior appellate court.

10.4 Notwithstanding anything above, the following documents will have to be preserved permanently :—

(a) A Negotiable Instrument (other than a cheque) as defined in Section 13 of The Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 (26 of 1881).

(b) A Power-of-Attorney as defined in section 1A of the Powers-of-Attorney Act, 1882 (7 of 1882).

(c) A Deed as defined in Section 3 of The Indian Trusts Act, 1882 (2 of 1882).

(d) A Will as defined in Clause (h) of Section 2 of The Indian Succession Act, 1925 (39 of 1925) including any other testamentary disposition by whatever name called.

(e) Any contract for the sale or conveyance of immovable property or any interest in such property.

(f) Any other document as may be directed by the Bench.

10.5 The responsibility of producing the originals and proving their genuineness shall be of the party that has electronically filed scanned copies of the document.

11. Access to the Electronic Data of the Action

Free of cost access will be available to authorized person(s) to data e-filed by any of the parties to the specific Action, as is presently being provided in pending Actions. This facility shall be in addition to the procedure of obtaining certified copies.

12.  Exemption from e-filing

Exemption from on-line e-filing of the entire pleading or a part of the pleadings and/or documents may be permitted by the Bench upon an application being made for that purpose in the following circumstances :

(i) where on-line e-filing is for reasons set out in the application not feasible; or (ii) where there are concerns about confidentiality and protection of privacy; or (iii) where the document cannot be scanned or filed electronically because of its size, shape or condition; or

(iv) where the on-line e-filing portal is either inaccessible or not available for some reason;

and/or

(v) for a just and sufficient cause.

13. Service of Electronic Documents

In addition to the prescribed mode of service, notices, documents, pleadings that are filed electronically may also be served through the designated e-mail IDs of Registry officials to the e-mailमहाराष्ट्र शासन राजपत्र असाधारण भाग चार-क, नोव्हेंबर १७, २०२२/कार्त्षक २६, शके १९४४ ७ address of the advocates or parties, if available. E-mail IDs of Registry officials will be published on the Court website to enable the recipients to verify the source of the e-mail.

In all cases if the respondent is not registered in CIS and no email ID is disclosed, a party cannot be compelled to accept service in digitised form. In such case, the Registrant shall serve the respondent with physical copies of the pleadings in addition to offering a soft copy.

The registry may send soft copies of petition from the dedicated mail address along with copy of notice/writ to the Court below with verification mechanism to ensure integrity of the dispatched soft copies. If required, soft copies shall be printed at Court effecting service whereupon addressee court shall affix its seal on the notice/writ so received and shall serve copies on the respondents/noticees. Copy of report of service shall be uploaded as reply to the e-mail forwarding notices/writs which, unless required, shall be treated as sufficient proof of service without requirement of physically signed hard copy of report of service.

14. Computation of Time

14.1 Wherever limitation/time limits apply, it will be the responsibility of the party concerned to ensure that the filing is carried out well before the cut-off date and time. The date of e-filing will be taken as that date when the Action is electronically received in the Registry within the prescribed time on any working day. For computing the time at which e-filing is made, Indian Standard Time (IST) will apply.

14.2 E-filing through Designated Counters will be permissible up to 16.00 hours on any court working day. On-line e-filing carried out after working hours on any day, will be treated as the date which follows the actual filing date provided it is a court working day. Actions filed on a day declared as gazetted holiday or on a day when the court is closed, will be regarded as having been filed on the next working day. For the computation of limitation, on-line e-filing shall be subject to the same legal regime as applicable to physical filing, save and except as provided herein above.

14.3 The facility for on-line e-filing through the web portal shall be available during all twenty- four hours of each day, subject to breakdown, server downtime, system maintenance or such other exigencies. Where on-line e-filing is not possible for any of the reasons set out above, parties can either approach the Designated Counters for e-filing during working hours on court working days or take recourse to physical filing. No exemption from limitation shall be permitted on the ground of a failure of the web based on-line e-filing facility.

14.4 Provisions for limitation governing on-line e-filing will be the same as those applicable to physical filing. The period of limitation for such actions will commence from the date when e-filing is made as per the procedure prescribed in these Rules.

15. Procedure for Filing Caveat

All caveats can be filed on-line. The procedure for this purpose is set out in Appendix-VI.

16.  Hard Copies of Pleadings and Documents filed Electronically

Advocates, as well as parties, may print hard copies of all pleadings and documents filed electronically for their use in the court or elsewhere. The Registry will wherever required prepare hard copies for official use.

17. These Rules are not in derogation to the provisions of any substantive or procedural law applicable for disposal of proceedings by the courts.

18. Storage and Retrieval of e-Filed Documents and Pleadings

E-filings will be stored on an exclusive server maintained under the control and directions of the Court. Each such filing will be separately labelled and encrypted for facilitate easy identification and retrieval. The security of such filings will be ensured. Access to e-filings would be restricted in the manner provided herein above and as may be notified from time to time. For continuity of operations in case of disaster, natural calamity or breakdown, a mirror image of e-filings available on the servers८ महाराष्ट्र शासन राजपत्र असाधारण भाग चार-क, नोव्हेंबर १७, २०२२/कार्त्षक २६, शके १९४४ located in the Court may be maintained at different geographical locations, as decided from time to time by the High Court /e-Committee.

Provided for marking electronic records as exhibits in the course of the trial, the protocol set out in Appendix VIII shall be followed qua the Actions instituted in the High Court. As regards the District Court, as and when the application is made available, the relevant procedure to be followed shall be notified by the Administrator. However, the mere assigning of a unique number to the electronic record will not amount to the authentication or proof of such electronic record. Nothing in these rules shall be construed as dispensing with the proof of the electronic record as required under the law.

19.1 Residuary provisions

19.1 The e-filing made by an Advocate/litigant in person will be rejected if they do not follow the protocol mandated by these Rules or practice directions.

19.2 Subject to such further directions as may be issued, it would not be obligatory on the part of the opposite party to accept pleadings and documents by email. In such an eventuality, hard copies of pleadings and documents will have to be provided to the opposite party. In such circumstances, the plaintiff/ petitioner can be called upon to deposit the charges calculated on the basis of the number of pages per defendant/respondent which are required to be photocopied. This facility will be provided by the Registry on a written request being made by the defendant(s)/respondent(s).

19.3 The Registry will communicate the objections, if any, regarding the cases filed by email/ SMS/web hosting to the concerned Advocate / litigant in person. After the objections are cleared the case will be processed for listing and the Advocate/litigant in person will be informed including by email/SMS.

20. General Caution

Email is not a secure medium of communication. Any communication transmitted by email can be intercepted or read by a third party. An Advocate or litigant in person seeking to transmit confidential or sensitive document/material, shall approach the Registry for requisite assistance/advice.

21. The Chief Justice may issue practice directions as warranted from time to time in respect of the Rules.

Appendices

HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE )

AT BOMBAY )

) R. N. JOSHI,

DATE : 15th NOVEMBER 2022 ) REGISTRAR GENERAL.

भाग चार-क-७९–२१० महाराष्ट्र शासन राजपत्र असाधारण भाग चार-क, नोव्हेंबर १७, २०२२/कार्त्षक २६, शके १९४४

APPENDIX.

APPENDIX – I

For  E-filing  portal  version  2.0  (https://efiling.

ecourts.gov.in/) (Applicable to High court at Bombay and

its benches at Nagpur, Aurangabad and Bombay High

Court atGoa and District Courts and Taluka Courts at

Diu,Daman, Silvasa) Screenshots showing the procedure for accessing the online portal, electronic filing of documents and list of Designated Counters.

1 : Accessing the Online Portal

• Visit https://efiling.ecourts.gov.in/ to access efiling portal.

• Select the State from the dropdown list or from the

interactive map of India.

• The login window as shown in the following picture will appear. Enter the User ID and Password.

• For Registration of new Advocate or Party in Person, click on "Register"महाराष्ट्र शासन राजपत्र असाधारण भाग चार-क, नोव्हेंबर १७, २०२२/कार्त्षक २६, शके १९४४ ११ • After logging in to efiling portal, the Dashboard of the

Advocate appears as shown the following picture.

भाग चार-क-७९–२अ१२ महाराष्ट्र शासन राजपत्र असाधारण भाग चार-क, नोव्हेंबर १७, २०२२/कार्त्षक २६, शके १९४४

2. Filing Miscellaneous Documents through e-filing

1. Select Misc. Docs option

2. Select Bench

3. Enter Case in which documents

are to be filed

4. Verify Correctness of Case

5. Select party for whom documents

are being filed.

6. Select signing party, if multiple

7. Upload documents

8. Give title to uploaded document

9. Index the uploaded document

10. Select mode, department and

party for payment of court fee

11. Share copy of document to other

Advocates, if desired

12. Digitally Sign the Verification

भाग चार-क-७९–३१८ महाराष्ट्र शासन राजपत्र असाधारण भाग चार-क, नोव्हेंबर १७, २०२२/कार्त्षक २६, शके १९४४

13. Upload and verify signing with

own Digital signature.

14. Final Submit

3. FILING NEW CASE

On the dashboard click on efile>>click on

New Case>>

Enter information in below mentioned tab and follow

similar procedure to index documents, payment of

court fees, digital signatures and final submit.

Do not forget to enter names and addresses of all the parties.

Do not forget to enter details of the Court and case

number in which orders are challenged.

Do not forget to enter details of Acts and Section.

Do not forget to enter details of Police Station, FIR number

etc.

भाग चार-क-७९–३अ२० महाराष्ट्र शासन राजपत्र असाधारण भाग चार-क, नोव्हेंबर १७, २०२२/कार्त्षक २६, शके १९४४

III : List of Designated Counters (eSewa Kendra)

APPENDIX – I

For E-filing portal version 3.0 (https://

filing.ecourts.gov.in/pdedev) (Applicable

to all the District,Taluka and excadre

courts in the state of Maharashtra)

Screenshots showing the procedure for accessing the online portal, electronic filing of documents and list of designated counters.

(I) : Accessing the online portal

• Visit https://filing.ecourts.gov.in/pdedev to access efiling portal.

• Registered Users can log in into the system by

using username(Barcode/Email/Mobile Number/

Unique Code given at the time of registration)

and password.

• After login into e-filing portal, the

DashBoard of the Advocate appears as shown in the following picture.

(II) filing of Documents :

This menu allow user to upload their legal documents,

provide indexing, authorise signatories and e-sign the

pleadings. This tab enables user to perform following actions :

• Upload new legal documents (in pdf format) for selected case.

• View/Search previously uploaded documents.

• Merge uploaded documents.

Upload New Documents :

भाग चार-क-७९–४२६ महाराष्ट्र शासन राजपत्र असाधारण भाग चार-क, नोव्हेंबर १७, २०२२/कार्त्षक २६, शके १९४४ • The message, 'Addition Successful' will be displayed

and the document can be viewed in the table provided at the bottom of the form.

View/Search uploaded documents :

भाग चार-क-७९–४अ२८ महाराष्ट्र शासन राजपत्र असाधारण भाग चार-क, नोव्हेंबर १७, २०२२/कार्त्षक २६, शके १९४४

APPENDIX – II

For E-filing portal version 2.0 (https://efiling.ecourts.gov.

in/) (Applicable to High court at Bombay and its benches at

Nagpur,

Aurangabad and Bombay High Court at Goa and

District Courts and Taluka Courts at Diu,

Daman, Silvasa)

Screenshots showing the procedure for registration.

• Visit the efiling portal at https://efiling.ecourts.gov.in/ • Select the State either from the dropdown list or the

interactive map of India.

• Click on "Register" for New Registration of Advocate.

Note * Registration process is a time bound process. It has

to be completed in 18 minutes.

• Click on "Advocate" Radio Button.

• Enter "Mobile No.", "Email" and "Bar Registration

No." of the Advocate as entered in the local CIS.

• Then select a "User ID"३० महाराष्ट्र शासन राजपत्र असाधारण भाग चार-क, नोव्हेंबर १७, २०२२/कार्त्षक २६, शके १९४४ • Select "State", "District" and "Establishment" where the Advocateis registered. Then enter the "Captcha" and click on "Get OTP" Button.

• The Advocate will receive two OTPs, one on his

Mobile and another on his email.

• Enter the OTPs received on "Mobile" and "Email".

Then enter "captcha" and Click on "Verify OTPमहाराष्ट्र शासन राजपत्र असाधारण भाग चार-क, नोव्हेंबर १७, २०२२/कार्त्षक २६, शके १९४४ ३१ • Then choose the Password and enter the Advocate Details.

• The upload the soft copies of "Photo" and "ID" • Then choose the "ID Type" uploaded.

• Then enter "Captcha" and click on "Register"

• On successful Registration, the Advocate will get a

message "Registered Successfully" • Advocates will be informed about the successful

Registration by email and SMS.

• Advocates can now use their Login credentials to login

to their account for efiling of cases.

*****महाराष्ट्र शासन राजपत्र असाधारण भाग चार-क, नोव्हेंबर १७, २०२२/कार्त्षक २६, शके १९४४ ३३

For E-filing portal version 3.0

(https://filing.ecourts.gov.in pdedev)

(Applicable to all the District, Taluka and

excadre courts in the state of Maharashtra)

Screenshots showing the procedure for registration

• Visit e-filing portal at https://filing.ecourts.gov.in/pdedev भाग चार-क-७९–५३४ महाराष्ट्र शासन राजपत्र असाधारण भाग चार-क, नोव्हेंबर १७, २०२२/कार्त्षक २६, शके १९४४

• Registering new Users :

The registration process differs for different users. Basic flow of events during registration is depicted in the following image.

• To register with the e-filing system :

भाग चार-क-७९–५अ३६ महाराष्ट्र शासन राजपत्र असाधारण भाग चार-क, नोव्हेंबर १७, २०२२/कार्त्षक २६, शके १९४४ • For Litigants- • Basic flow of events during registration is depicted in the

following image.

• Follow the procedure given below to register with e-filing

system :

APPENDIX – III

Screenshots showing the procedure for converting a document into an OCR searchable PDF.

• Download any free software or use online tools to

convert PDF to OCR searchable PDF.

• OCR.Space is a free Online PDF to OCR searchable conversion tool.

• Go to https://ocr.space/ and upload image or PDF file (.png,.jpg,.webp or .PDF) or paste url to source file (.png,.jpg,.webp or

.PDF). Click on "Start OCR" and then "Download"

buttons to covert and download PDF to OCR Searchable

PDF.

• Or you may download and install free PDF-XChange

Viewer to convert PDF to OCR searchable PDF.

• Select "Open" to open the PDF containing a scanned

image you wish to convert to OCR Format.

• From the main menu, select "Document", "OCR Pages".

• Select "Page Range"; "Recognition"; "Output"

and Image Quality at least 300 dpi then Click on

"OK"महाराष्ट्र शासन राजपत्र असाधारण भाग चार-क, नोव्हेंबर १७, २०२२/कार्त्षक २६, शके १९४४ ४१ • Output in OCR Format भाग चार-क-७९–६४२ महाराष्ट्र शासन राजपत्र असाधारण भाग चार-क, नोव्हेंबर १७, २०२२/कार्त्षक २६, शके १९४४

APPENDIX-IV

For E-filing portal version 2.0 (https://efiling.ecourts.

gov.in/) (Applicable to High court at Bombay and its

benches at Nagpur, Aurangabad and Bombay High

Court at Goa and District Courts and Taluka Courts

at Diu,Daman, Silvasa)

Screenshots showing the procedure for appending single or multiple digital signatures.

• Go to the website - http://cca.gov.in to get the list of

Licensed Certifying Authorities.

भाग चार-क-७९–६अ४४ महाराष्ट्र शासन राजपत्र असाधारण भाग चार-क, नोव्हेंबर १७, २०२२/कार्त्षक २६, शके १९४४

APPENDIX – IV

For E-filing portal version 3.0 (https://filing.ecourts.

gov.in/pdedev) (Applicable to all Districts, Taluka and

excadre courts in the state of Maharashtra)

Screenshots showing the procedure for appending single or multiple digital signatures.

• How to e-sign the documents (Authorised signatories) • Select the Method of signing by selecting the radio

button for e- sign or OTP. For OTP, enter the mobile number and the OTP which is sent to that number.

• Click on submit button.

• The message, "Signatory Authorised successfully" is

displayed. This signatory will now be able to e-sign/OTP verify document through own login.

• e-Sign verification :

OTP Verification :

• Click on get OTP button in front of the desired document. • Click get OTP. • Enter the OTP and click verify. • OTP verification success is displayed.

APPENDIX – V

Screenshots showing the procedure for bookmarking.

• Open your PDF file to the page you want to bookmark

in Adobe Acrobat.

• Navigate to the page you wish to create a bookmark for. Go to View > Tools >

Content Editing and in the Tools Pane, click on Add Bookmark.

• Or, click on the Options menu from the side Bookmarks Navigation Panel. Select New Bookmark.

• You can also begin by selecting your page, right

clicking, and choosing Add Bookmark from the context

menu. In the box that reads 'Untitled', type in the

bookmark's name. Press Enter to save it.

• Add bookmarks using Microsoft Word:

• Step one:

Open the document in Word and navigate to the section

or heading you wish to bookmark. Select the title you

wish to bookmark and then click on the Insert tab in

the ribbon, followed by selecting Bookmark.

भाग चार-क-७९–७५० महाराष्ट्र शासन राजपत्र असाधारण भाग चार-क, नोव्हेंबर १७, २०२२/कार्त्षक २६, शके १९४४

Step two

The Bookmark dialog box will open. Type the name of your bookmark and then click Add. Repeat this process until all required sections have been bookmarked.

Step three

Finally, save the document as a PDF. To do this, click on Save As in the File menu. Select PDF in the dropdown menu. Before saving, open the Options. menu at the bottom of the Save As dialog box.

• Make sure that the option "Create bookmarks using:" is

selected and that it is set to use Word bookmarks. Click

OK and then Save.

•५२ महाराष्ट्र शासन राजपत्र असाधारण भाग चार-क, नोव्हेंबर १७, २०२२/कार्त्षक २६, शके १९४४

APPENDIX – VI

For E-filing portal version 2.0 (https://efiling.

ecourts.gov.in/) (Applicable to High court at

Bombay and its benches at Nagpur, Aurangabad

and Bombay High Court at Goa and District

Courts and Taluka Courts at Diu, Daman,

Silvasa)

Screenshots showing the procedure for filing Caveat.

APPENDIX –VI

For E-filing portal version 3.0 (https://filing.ecourts.

gov.in/pdedev) (Applicable to all the District, Taluka

and excadre courts in the state of Maharashtra)

Screenshots showing the procedure for filing Caveat.

भाग चार-क-७९–८५४ महाराष्ट्र शासन राजपत्र असाधारण भाग चार-क, नोव्हेंबर १७, २०२२/कार्त्षक २६, शके १९४४

APPENDIX -VII

1. Any information contained in an electronic record that is sought to be produced in an electronic form and/or intended to be proved as per law shall be filed only through Designated Counters. Any party found dumping irrelevant data / electronic records shall be liable for appropriate action and consequences.

2. Where the electronic record is contained in an electronic device it shall, before being produced, be imaged for being produced on to a removable media.

3. The electronic record shall be accompanied by a memo [see Form A below]. The details and columns shall be filled up to the extent the information is available. Where the Operating System and software required to read/view/access the electronic record is unavailable, it shall be provided by the party producing the electronic record in a separate storage media.

4. Upon the receipt of the electronic record, the hash value thereof shall be verified by the Registry and the electronic record shall be transferred forthwith to the server of the Court following the protocol set out as under:

• Image of the electronic record shall be received only by the

authorized personnel.

• Image of the electronic record shall be accompanied by a memo

(Form A) by the party tendering it.

• There shall be a dedicated server for receipt and storage of

electronic records with clearly specified access rights.

• A standardized procedure, as reviewed and updated from time to

time, shall be followed for the verification of the details mentioned

in the memo accompanying the electronic record.

• The file structure of the electronic record based on the case number

and the unique reference number shall be generated through the

software. For example, Case Number Unique Reference Number

of the Electronic Record

• An acknowledgement depicting the unique reference number

assigned to the electronic record shall be given to the party

tendering the electronic record.

• No electronic record in auto-erase mode shall be received. Every electronic

record will be preserved in read-only mode.

• A backup shall be created simultaneously of each electronic record after

assignment of the unique reference number and the backup shall be

stored at a separate location.

• Logs shall be maintained for all actions and the entire process shall be

automated.

5. Where confidentiality is sought in respect of the whole or any part of the electronic record, directions may be sought from the Court concerned.

6. The extant rules (of the Court concerned) regarding retention and production of original documents will apply mutatis mutandis to electronic records produced in terms of these rules.

7. Upon verification and transfer, a unique number will be assigned to the electronic record by the Registry. Such a unique number shall be made available to the person tendering such electronic record.

8. After a unique number is assigned, the storage media will be returned to the party/counsel concerned.

9. A separate register in the prescribed format shall be maintained in every Court or Court complex as the case may be, of the electronic records received, verified and transferred to the server.

10. Till such time the electronic record is transferred to the server and returned to the person tendering it, the storage device containing the electronic record should be placed in antistatic and magnetic proof or another such appropriate envelope, to be provided by the party. Such envelope will be appropriately labelled, by the party with the details of the case and the electronic record in the manner indicated below:

• The storage media containing the electronic record will be tendered in

an appropriate envelope or cover.

• The envelope or cover should be free of dust, grease and chemical

pollutants and kept in a sterile environment

• As far as possible:

o The appropriate size of the envelope would be 6" x 6" for pen drives

and memory cards; 7" x 10" for CD, DVD and 8" x 10" for hard disks.

o Electronic record should always be packed in anti-static packing

and magnetic proof. Only paper or cardboard should be used

with a thin

भाग चार-क-७९–८अ५६ महाराष्ट्र शासन राजपत्र असाधारण भाग चार-क, नोव्हेंबर १७, २०२२/कार्त्षक २६, शके १९४४

water/dustproof plastic layer on the outside of the envelope.

o A master envelope may be used to hold multiple disks (packed in

separate hard plastic cases) if necessary.

• The Label affixed thereupon, should necessarily include the case

details, type, make and Sr. no. of the electronic storage media along

with the name of the party or the person tendering it.

Such envelope should be kept in a sterile environment. After the electronic record is transferred as per the protocol hereinabove, the envelope will be returned along with the storage media. In any event, the storage media and the envelope will not be retained beyond one week, unless otherwise ordered by the Court.

11. The Registry shall maintain logs documenting all processes and protocols for electronic records created in the normal course of business.

12. The court concerned will display on the website the list of the operating systems and the softwares available in the court system. Guidance notes will be uploaded on the websites of the High Court and District Courts.

13. Only authorized personnel shall have access to electronic records.

14. These rules/guidelines do not deal with the destruction of electronic records or devices which have not been collected under clause 11. These will be governed by the rules framed by the Court concerned for that purpose, as the case may be.

15. These rules will apply also to the production of electronic records during the cross-examination of a witness in the course of the trial.

FORM A

MEMO TO BE ATTACHED TO THE ELECTRONIC RECORD

Name of the Court

– Case No. –

Cause Title of the Case –

Date - Party (Name & Signature) -

Place - Counsel (Name & Signature)

APPENDIX –VIII

PROTOCOL TO BE FOLLOWED FOR THE MARKING OF

ELECTRONIC RECORDS AS EXHIBITS DURING TRIAL

1. Image of the electronic record shall be retrieved from the server of the Court during the stage of trial after verifying its authenticity with reference to its hash value and metadata.

2. Where an electronic record is printable, its print out shall be marked as an exhibit as per applicable rules and practices. This print out so marked as an exhibit be scanned, electronically signed by the Judge and uploaded on to the Court server as the exhibited electronic record.

3. Where the image of the electronic record is in the form of an audio recording of a conversation, the parties concerned shall produce transcripts of the recorded conversation. The transcripts must bear all material particulars including the date, time and duration of the recordings, the mobile phone numbers with IMEI numbers of the handsets used and the names of the purported conversationalists. The audio recording shall be played in the Court. The matching transcript of such audio recording will be marked as an exhibit as per applicable rules and practices. The exhibited transcript of the audio recording will be scanned, electronically signed by the Judge and uploaded on to the Court server as the exhibited electronic record.

4. Where the image of the electronic record is in the form of an audio recording of a music clip, tune, etc. The audio file may be accessed with the help of prescribed 'audio file visualiser' software for viewing and analysing the contents of music audio files; for viewing their waveforms, audio visualisations such as spectrogram views, with interactive adjustment of display parameters. The relevant portion(s) of the audio data may be annotated by adding labelled time points and defining segments, point values, curves, overlay annotations on top of one another with aligned scales, and overlay annotations on top of waveform or spectrogram views, etc.;

5. Where the image of the electronic record is in the form of a video recording, the same shall be played in the Court. The proceeding of the Court in which the video record is played, statement of the witness including cross- examination in respect of any part of the video record shall be video recorded to form part of the record of the trial. This video recorded deposition of the witness be treated as an exhibit. The Court in its order sheet must record in detail the persons identified by the witness and any other material aspect of the deposition/cross-examination concerning all / any part of the video record played in the Court. Time frame in the video be also mentioned in the order, wherever required.

ON BEHALF OF GOVERNMENT PRINTING, STATIONERY AND PUBLICATION, PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY DIRECTOR, RUPENDRA DINESH MORE, PRINTED AT GOVERNMENT CENTRAL PRESS, 21-A, NETAJI SUBHASH ROAD, CHARNI ROAD, MUMBAI 400 004 AND PUBLISHED AT DIRECTORATE OF GOVERNMENT PRINTING, STATIONERY AND PUBLICATIONS, 21-A, NETAJI SUBHASH ROAD, CHARNI ROAD, MUMBAI 400 004. EDITOR : DIRECTOR, RUPENDRA DINESH MORE.