Delhi High Court: The Division Bench of Manmohan, ACJ.*, and Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora, J., directed the Principal District and Sessions Judges of all Districts of District Courts in Delhi to monitor the progress of weeding out of cases in their respective districts and take effective steps in this regard.
This Court, vide order dated 4-1-2024 in Karan S Thukral v. District & Sessions Judge, 2024 SCC OnLine Del 94, had issued various directions and the Registrar General was also directed to file a compliance report, and the Court noted that the same was filed on 12-2-2024.
Shubham Mahajan, Counsel for the High Court stated that after filing of the report dated 12-2-2024, some further developments had taken place and thus, the Court took on record the fresh report. The Counsel submitted that the grievance raised by petitioner regarding the centralized filing of interim applications and their registration already stands addressed, as the centralized filing system had been implemented in all the District Courts. It was further stated that mandatory e-filing had been extended to all Civil Courts (including Family Courts) and criminal complaint cases in the District Courts from 1-4-2024 and consequently, the advocates and parties were required to file all interim applications and documents through the e-filing portal alone wherein every e-filing got registered.
It was also stated that in respect of the weeding out of the record, the necessary amendments were already carried out; the criterion for petty cases and cases for historical importance were decided; committees to monitor weeding out were constituted in each District Court; and around 52000 files were already weeded out.
The Court opined that it could not lose sight of the fact that the situation in the record rooms of the District Courts was grim and the process of weeding out of the record needed to be carried out expeditiously and monitored on a regular basis. Thus, the Court directed the Principal District and Sessions Judges of all District Courts in Delhi to monitor the progress of weeding out of cases in their respective districts and take effective steps in this regard.
The Court disposed of the writ petition and directed the Principal District & Sessions Judges of all the District Courts to file quarterly reports in this Court.
The matter would next be listed on 2-9-2024 for compliance.
[Karan S Thukral v. District & Sessions Judge, 2024 SCC OnLine Del 2873, decided on 22-4-2024]
*Judgment authored by: Acting Chief Justice Manmohan
Advocates who appeared in this case :
For the Petitioner: Petitioner in person with Vaishnavi, Advocate
For the Respondents: Avnish Ahlawat, Standing Counsel (GNCTD), Services and DSJ; Tania Ahlawat, Nitesh Kumar Singh, Laavanya Kaushik, Aliza Alam, Mohnish Sehrawat, Shubham Mahajan, Advocates
