The B

PUBL

(NO. PATNA 518) P

No. B/Estt.(H.C.)-06

High Court of Patna propos

122 of the Code of Civil Pr

September, 2008 in Bihar G

from the persons likely to be

taken into consideration on

Gazette.

AND WHEREAS, the

publication 05th September,

AND WHEREAS, no

by the High Court of Patna.

NOW, THEREFORE, i

read with Section 126 and

following rules made by the

published namely:-

Bihar (Case Flow M

REGISTE

Bihar Gaze

XTRA ORDIANARY

LISHED BY AUTHORIT

9 KARTIK 1930 (S)

ATNA, FRIDAY, 31ST OCTOBER 2

LAW DEPARTMENT

————

NOTIFICATION

24th October 2008

6-03/2008/5253./J Whereas the draft of the follow

sed to make was published as required by sub-se

rocedure, 1908 (Act 5 of 1908) in Notification N

Gazette dated 05th September, 2008 inviting objec

e affected thereby and notice was given that the sa

or after fifteen days from the date of its public

e said copy of the Gazette Notification was m

2008.

objections or suggestions have been received to

in exercise of the powers conferred by Section

d 127 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (

e High Court, Patna and approved by the State G

Management in High Court) Rules, 2008.

By order of the G

RAJENDRA KU

Sec-cum-legal R

ERED NO. PT.-40

ette

2008

wing rules which the

ection (1) of Section

No. 4237 dated 05th

ctions or suggestions

aid draft rules will be

cation in the Official

made available to the

o the said draft rules

89 and Section 122

(Act 5 of 1908) the

Government is hereby

Governor of Bihar,

UMAR MISHRA,

Remembrancer.

BIHAR GAZETTE (EXTRA), 31ST OCTOBER 2008

BIHAR (CASE FLOW MANAGEMENT IN HIGH COURT) RULES, 2008

1. Title, application and commencement.—(i) These rules may be called

Bihar (Cases Flow Management in High Court) Rules, 2008.

(ii)These rules shall apply to all writs application, LPA, appeals and all other

Civil, Criminal and other proceedings before the High Courts.

(iii)These rules shall come into force from the date of their publication in the

Official Gazette.

PART- I

1. Division of Cases into different Tracks

1. Writ Petitions : The High Court shall, at the stage of admission or issuing

notice before admission categorize the Writ Petitions other than Writ

of Habeas Corpus, into three categories:

Fast Track - The petitions in the Fast Track shall invariably be disposed of

within a period not exceeding six months.

Normal Track - Petitions in this category of cases shall be disposed of within

a period of one year.

Slow Track - Petitions in this category, subject to pendency of other cases in

the Court, shall ordinarily be disposed of within a period of two years.

Notes:- Where an interim order of stay or injunction is granted in respect of

liability to tax or demolition or eviction from public premises etc.., and

Similarly, all matters involving tenders would also be put on the Fast

Track.

2. Every month Registrar, List & Computer shall, monitor the stage of each

case likely to come up for hearing before each Bench (Division Bench or Single Judge)

during that month which have been allocated to the different Tracks. The details shall be

placed before the Chief Justice or Committee nominated for that purpose as well as the

concerned Judge dealing with cases.

3. The Judge or Judges referred to in Clause (2) above may shift the case from

one Track to another, depending upon the complexity (urgency) and other

circumstances of the case.

4. When Computerization is available, data will be fed into the computer in

such a manner that the Court of Judge or Judges, referred to in clause (2) above will be

able to ascertain the position and stage of every case in every track from the computer

screen.

5. Whenever the roaster changes, the judge concerned who is dealing with final

matters shall keep himself informed about the stage of the cases in various tracks listed

before him during every week, with a view to see that the cases are taken up early.

6. Other matter : The High Court shall also divide Civil Appeals and other matter

into different tracks on the lines indicated in sub-clause (2) to (5) above and the said

clauses shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to the Civil Appeals filed in the Court. The High

Court shall make a subject-wise division of the appeals/revision application for allocation

in different tracks.

PART- II

Writ of Habeas Corpus

(i)

Notices in respect of writ of Habeas Corpus where the person is in

custody under orders of the State Government of Central Government

shall invariably be issued by the Court at the first listing and shall be

made returnable within 48 hours.

(ii)

The State Government or Central Government may file a brief return

enclosing the relevant documents to justify the detention.

(iii)

The matters shall be listed after notice on the 4^th working day after

issuance of notice, and the Court shall consider whether a more

BIHAR GAZETTE (EXTRA), 31ST OCTOBER 2008

detailed return to the Writ is necessary, and, if so required, shall give

further time of a week and three days' time for filing a rejoinder.

(iv)

A Writ of Habeas Corpus shall invariably be disposed of within a period

of fifteen days. It shall have preference over and above fast track

cases

PART- III

Mode of Advance Service:-Mode of service of notice on the standing counsel

for Respondents wherever available, against whom, interim orders are sought as per

Patna High Court Rules. Such advance service shall generally relate to Governments or

public sector undertakings who have Standing Counsel.

PART- IV

FIRST APPEALS TO HIGH COURT

1. Service of Notice of Appeal: (a) Irrespective of amendment in CPC, which

provide filing a copy of appeal in Trial Court, a party can file appeal in Appellate Court

(High Court) immediately for obtaining interim orders.

(b) In addition to the process for normal service as per the Code or civil

Procedure, advance notice should simultaneously be given by the counsel for the

party who is proposing to file the appeal, to the counsel for the opposite party in

the Trial Court itself so as to enable them to inform the parties to appear if they

so choose even at the first hearing stage.

2. Filing of Documents:-The Appellant shall, on the appeal being admitted, file

all the essential papers within such period as may be fixed by the High Court for the

purpose the High Court understanding the scope of the dispute and for the purpose of

passing interlocutory orders.

3. Printing or typing of Paper Book:-Printing and preparation of paper-books

by the High Court should be done away with. After service of notice is effected, counsel

for both sides should agree on the list of documents and evidence to be printed or typed

and the same shall be made ready by the parties within the time to be fixed by the Court.

Thereafter the paper book shall be got ready. It must be assured that the paper books

are ready at least six months in advance before the appeal is taken up for arguments.

(Cause lists must specify if paper books have been filed or not).

4. Filing of Written Submissions and time for oral arguments:

(a) Both the appellants and the respondents shall be required to submit their

written submissions with all the relevant pages as per the Court paper

book marked therein within a month of preparation of such paper-books,

referred to in Rule 3 above.

(b) Cause list may indicate if written submissions have been filed. If not, the

Court must direct that they be filed immediately.

other side) the matter should be listed before the Registrar to indicate the

time that will be taken for arguments in the appeal. Alternatively, such

matters may be listed before a Judge in Chambers for deciding the time

duration and thereafter to fix a date of hearing on a clear date when the

requisite extent of time will be available.

(d) In the event that the matter is likely to take a day or more, the High Court

may consider having a Caution List/Alternative List to meet eventualities

where a case gets adjourned due to unavoidable reasons or does not go

on before a Court, and those cases may be listed before a Court where,

for one reason or another, the scheduled cases are not taken up for

hearing.

5. Court may explore possibility of settlement:

(a) At the first hearing of a First Appeal when both parties appear, the Court

shall find out if there is a possibility of a settlement. If the parties are

⁴

BIHAR GAZETTE (EXTRA), 31ST OCTOBER 2008

agreeable even at the stage for mediation or conciliation, the High Court

could make a reference to mediation or conciliation for the said purpose.

(b) If necessary, the process contemplated by Section 89 of CPC may be

resorted to by the Appellate Court so, however, that the hearing of the

appeal is not unnecessarily delayed. Whichever is the ADR process

adopted the court should fix a date for a report on the ADR two months

from the date of reference.

PART-V

Appeals to Division Bench from Judgment of Single Judge of High Court

[Letter Patent Appeals (LPA) or similar appeals under High Courts Rules]:-

An appeal to a Division Bench from judgment of a Single Judge generally

lie in the following cases:

(i) Appeals from interlocutory orders of the Single Judge in original

jurisdiction matter including writs;

(ii) Appeals from final judgments of a Single Judge in original jurisdiction;

(iii) Other appeals permitted by any law to a Division Bench.

1. Appeals against interlocutory orders falling under category

(i) Above should be invariably filed after advance notice to the opposite

counsel (who has appeared before the Single Judge) so that both the

sides will be represented at the very first hearing of the appeals. If both

parties appear at the first hearing, there is no need to serve the opposite

side by normal process and at least in some cases, the appeals against

interlocutory order can be disposed of even at the fist hearing. If, for any

reason, this is not practicable, such appeals against interim orders

should be disposed of within a period of a month.

2. In cases referred to above, necessary documents should be kept ready by the

counsel to enable the Court to dispose of the appeal against interlocutory matter at the

fist hearing itself.

3. In all Appeals against interim orders in the High Court, in writ and civil matters,

the Court should endeavour to set down and observe a strict time limit in regard to oral

arguments. In case or Original Side appeals/LPAs arising out of final orders in a Writ

Petition or arising out of civil suits filed in the High Court, a flexible time schedule may be

followed.

4. The practice direction in regard to First Appeal should mutatis mutandis apply

in respect of LPAs/Original side appeals against final judgments of the Single Judge.

5. Letters Patent Appeals arising from orders of the Single Judge in a writ Petition

should be filed with simultaneous service on the counsel for the opposite party who had

appeared before the Single Judge or on service of the opposite party.

6. LPA against interim orders of the Single Judge should invariably be disposed

of early and at any rate, within a period of thirty days from the first hearing.

7. Before LPA against final orders in Writ Petitions are heard, brief written

submissions must be filed by both parties within such time as may be fixed by the Court.

PART-VI

Second Appeals:

1. Even at the stage of admission, the questions of law with a brief

synopsis and written submissions on each of the propositions should be

filed so as to enable the Court to consider whether there is a substantial

question of law.

2. Wherever the Court is inclined to entertain the appeal, apart from normal

procedure for service as per rules, advance notice shall be given to the

counsel who had appeared in the first Appellate Court.

BIHAR GAZETTE (EXTRA), 31ST OCTOBER 2008

3. The notice should require the respondents to file their written

submissions within a period of eight weeks from service of notice.

4. Efforts should be made to complete the hearing of the Second Appeals

within a period of six months.

PART-VII

Civil Revision:-The practice direction in regard to LPAs and First Appeals to the

High Courts, should mutatis mutandis apply in respect of revision petitions.

PART-VIII

Criminal AppealsBased on offence, sentence and whether the accused is on

bail or in Jail Criminal Appeals shall be classified as follows:

(i) Track I: Capital punishment cases, rape, sexual offences, dowry death

cases.

(ii) Track II: Cases where the accused is not granted bail and is in jail.

(iii) Track III: Cases which affect a large number of persons such as cases

of mass cheating, economic offences, illicit liquor tragedy, food

adulteration cases, offences of sensitive nature.

(iv) Track IV: Offences under TADA, NDPS, Prevention of Corruption

ACT, etc.

(v) Track V: all other offences.

1. The endeavour should be to complete Track I Cases within a period of six

months, Tracks II cases within nine months, Track III within a year, Track IV and Track V

within fifteen months.

2. Whenever an appeal is filed by a person in jail, and also when appeals are

filed by State, the complete paper-books including the evidence, should be filed by the

State within such period as may be fixed by Court.

3. In appeals against acquittals, steps for appointment of amicus curie or State

Legal Aid Counsel in respect of the accused who do not have a lawyer of their own

should be under taken by the Registry/(State Legal Service Committee) immediately

after completion of four weeks of service of notice. It shall be presumed that in such an

event the accused is not in a position to appoint counsel, and within two weeks

thereafter counsel shall be appointed and shall be furnished all the papers.

PART-IX

Note.—Wherever there is any inconsistency between these rules and the

provision of either the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 or the Code of

Criminal Procedure, 1973 or the Patna High Court Rules, or any other

statute, the provision of such Codes and statute, the provisions of such

Codes and statutes shall prevail."

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PUBLISHED AND PRINTED BY THE SUPERINTENDENT,

BIHAR SECRETARIAT PRESS, PATNA.

Bihar Gazette (Extra) 518—571+400—D.T.P.