e-filing of bail pleas to start in HC today

MHC, Registrar General C Kumarappan in a notification said, as per the process the advocate or party-in-person has to create a user account on the e-filing portal (https://efiling.ecourts.gov.in). The account creation process shall be verified by a one-time password (OTP) which will be sent to the mobile number and email address of the concerned advocate/party-in-person.

A detailed guidelines and tutorial video prepared by the MHC for the e-filing process and the detailed user manual prepared by the e-Committee, Supreme Court, along with the steps required to be taken as per the practice prevailing in MHC are available on the web site (http://www.hcmadras.tn.nic.in), the registrar general said.

The notification while urging the advocate/party in person to avail the e-filing facility using their own equipment, also held that apart from e-filing, urgent cases can also be filed through e-mail until further orders.

The Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry (BCTN&P) has urged the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court to defer the notification of the postponement of vacation to subordinate courts and continue the present setup in all courts due to COVID-19 by extending the video conferencing facility to all Subordinate Courts during the pandemic period.

Bar council chairman PS Amalraj in a letter to the Chief Justice, said, “Already on behalf of the Bar, we have expressed the practical difficulties in conducting cases in Subordinate Courts during this pandemic situation. When normalcy has not been restored and the lockdown has been extended, the decision to function from May 1 is not feasible as the health-related threat still subsists.” He further noted that the Subordinate Courts does not have proper facilities to conduct the court proceedings safely. “When the government has not stated that normalcy has been restored and the recovery has not reached satisfactory levels, it is in public interest to conduct court proceedings only through video conferencing and hear urgent matters only till COVID-19 pandemic is over,” Amalraj stressed.

Based on this, he sought to the High Court to create video conference facilities in all Subordinate Courts.