The Hon’ble Delhi High Court on June 01, 2020 released a set of rules in order to consolidate, unify and streamline the procedure relating to the use of video conferencing for Courts.[1]The Rules are called “High Court of Delhi Rules for Video Conferencing for Courts 2020”. The key highlights of the same are listed below –
General Principles
1. Video Conferencing facilities may be used at all stages of judicial proceedings and proceedings conducted by the Court.
2. All relevant statutory provisions applicable to judicial proceedings shall apply to proceedings conducted by video conferencing.
3. All proceedings conducted by a Court via video conferencing shall be judicial proceedings and all the courtesies and protocols applicable to a physical Court shall apply to these proceedings.
4. There shall be no unauthorised recording of the proceedings by any person or entity.
5. The person shall provide identity proof as recognised by the Government of India/State Government/Union Territory to the Court point coordinator via personal email. In case of identity proof not being readily available the person concerned shall furnish the following personal details: name, parentage and permanent address, as also, temporary address if any.
Facilities recommended for Video Conferencing
1. Desktop, laptop, mobile devices with internet connectivity and printer;
2. Uninterrupted power supply, camera, microphones and speakers;
3. Display unit, document visualizer, provision of a firewall.
4. Adequate seating arrangement, lighting and availability of quiet and secure space.
Preparatory Arrangements
1. There shall be a Coordinator both at the Court Point and at the Remote Point from which any Required Person is to be examined or heard. However, Coordinator may be required at the Remote Point only when a witness or a person accused of an offence is to be examined.
2. The Rules further list out who can be the designated coordinator depending on the location of the Advocate or Required Person.
3. The Coordinator at the Remote Point shall ensure that all Advocates and/or Required Persons scheduled to appear in a particular proceeding are ready at the Remote Point designated for video conferencing at least 30 minutes before the scheduled time.
4. Where the witness to be examined through video conferencing requires, the Court shall give sufficient notice in advance, setting out the schedule of video conferencing and may transmit non-editable digital scanned copies of all or any part of the record of the proceedings to the official email account of the Coordinator of the concerned Remote Point.
5. Before the scheduled video conferencing date, the Coordinator at the Court Point shall ensure that the Coordinator at the Remote Point receives certified copies, printouts or a soft copy of the non-editable scanned copies of all or any part of the record of proceedings which may be required for recording statements or evidence, or for reference.
6. Whenever required, the Court shall order the Coordinator at either Points to provide a –
a) Translator if the person to be examined is not conversant with official language of the Court.
b) Expert in sign languages if the person to be examined is impaired in speech and/or hearing.
c) An interpreter or a special educator, as the case may be, in case a person to be examined is differently abled, either temporarily or permanently.
Application for Appearance, Evidence and Submission by Video Conferencing.
1. Any party to the proceeding or witness, except where proceedings are initiated at the instance of the Court, may request for video conferencing via the form prescribed in Schedule II.[2]
2. Any proposal to move a request for video conferencing should first be discussed with the other party or parties to the proceeding, except where it is not possible or inappropriate, for example in cases such as urgent applications.
3. On receipt of such a request and upon hearing all concerned persons, the Court will pass an order after assessing the legitimacy and intention of the said application.
4. In case the video conferencing event is convened for making oral submissions, the order may require the Advocate or party in person to submit written arguments and precedents, if any, in advance on the official email ID of the concerned Court.
Service of Summons
1. The rules w.r.t. service of the summons and consequences for non-attendance, given in the CPC and CrPC shall apply for proceedings conducted by video conferencing.
2. In respect of service of summons on witnesses residing outside the country, concerning criminal matters, the provisions of “Comprehensive Guidelines for investigation abroad and issue of Letters Rogatory (LRs) / Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) Request and Service of Summons / Notices/ Judicial documents in respect of Criminal Matters”[3]will be followed.
Examination of persons
1. Any person being examined, before being examined through video conferencing, shall produce and file proof of identity. The affidavit will inter alia state that the person, who is shown to be the party to the proceedings or as a witness, is the same person, who is to depose at the virtual hearing. A copy of the proof of identity or affidavit will be made available to the opposite party.
2. The person being examined will ordinarily be examined during the working hours of the concerned Court or at such time as the Court may deem fit. The oath will be administered to the person being examined by the Coordinator at the Court Point.
3. Where the person being examined, or the accused to be tried, is in custody, his statement/testimony, may be recorded through video conferencing.
4. Before the examination of the witness, the documents, if any, sought to be relied upon shall be transmitted by the applicant to the witness, so that the witness acquires familiarity with the said documents, in accordance with the Evidence Act.
5. If a person is examined concerning a particular document, then the summons to witness must be accompanied by a duly certified photocopy of the document. The original document should be exhibited at the Court Point as per the deposition of the concerned person being examined.
Ensuring Seamless Video Conferencing
1. The Advocate /Required Person shall address the Court by video conferencing from a specified Remote Point on the date and time specified in the order issued by the Court.
2. If the proceedings are carried out from any of the Remote Point(s), the Coordinator at such Remote Point shall ensure compliance of all technical requirements.
3. Any problems faced by such Remote Users shall be resolved by the Court Point Coordinator.
4. The Coordinator at the Court Point shall also conduct a trial video conferencing, preferably 30 minutes before scheduled video conferencing to ensure that all the technical systems are in working condition at both the Court Point and the Remote Point.
5. On completion of the proceeding, the Court shall mention in the order sheet the time and duration of the proceeding, the software used and the issue(s) on which the Court was addressed and the documents if any that were produced and transmitted online.
6. Once the video conferencing is complete, if a Remote User believes that she/he were prejudiced due to poor video and/or audio quality, he/she shall inform the Coordinator at the Court Point, who shall communicate this information to the Court. The Court shall consider the grievance and if it finds substance in the grievance may declare the hearing to be incomplete and the parties may be asked to re-connect or make a physical appearance in Court.
General Procedure –
1. The Coordinator at the Court Point shall ensure that video conferencing is conducted only through a Designated Video Conferencing Software.
2. The identity of the person to be examined shall be confirmed by the Court with the assistance of the Coordinator at the Remote Point, at the time of recording of the evidence and the same must be reflected in the order sheet of the Court.
3. In civil cases, parties requesting for recording statements of the person to be examined by video conferencing shall confirm to the Court, the location of the person, his willingness to be examined through video conferencing and the availability of technical facilities for video conferencing at the agreed-upon time and place.
4. In criminal cases, where the person to be examined is a prosecution witness or a Court witness, or defence witness, the counsel for the prosecution or defence counsel, shall confirm to the Court the location of the person, willingness to be examined by video conferencing and the time, place and technical facility for such video conferencing.
5. Video conferencing shall ordinarily take place during the Court hours.
6. If the accused is in custody and not present at the Court Point, the Court will order a multi-point video conference between itself, the witness and the accused in custody to facilitate the recording of the statement of the witness.
Costs of Video Conferencing –
1. In criminal cases, all expenses shall be borne by such party as directed by the Court.
2. In civil cases, generally, the party requesting for recording evidence through video conferencing shall bear the expenses.
3. Apart from these, the Court may also make an order for expenses as it considers appropriate as payable, from time to time. It shall be the discretion of the Court to waive the costs as warranted in a given situation.
Conduct of Proceedings
1. Schedule I[4]lists the rules to be followed by Advocates and all parties relevant to the Court.
2. Presence has to be recorded by participants before the commencement of the proceeding and in case if someone wants their name to be masked, shall furnish such information to the Court Point Coordinator before the commencement as well.
3. The Court Point Coordinator shall send the meeting details to the email Id/mobile number of the Advocate/Required Person or any participant permitted to be virtually present by the Court.
4. Participation in the proceedings shall constitute consent by the participants to the proceedings being recorded by video conferencing.
Allowing persons who are not parties to the case to view the proceedings
1. Ordinary public will be allowed to view Court hearings conducted through video conferencing, except proceedings ordered for reasons recorded in writing to be conducted in-camera.
2. If a person unconnected with the case is present at the Remote Point, he shall be identified by the Coordinator at the Remote Point at the start of the proceedings and the purpose of the presence of that person shall be conveyed to the Court.
The above Rules by the Delhi High Court are a welcome move especially in times of COVID-19 so that administration of justice does not crumble in the face of pandemic. It also shows that the Indian courts are coming to terms with the situation and the need to keep up with the changing times. The Rules would be put to test in the coming days and only time would reflect whether video conferencing in Courts would be a boon or bane. However, the Rules are important to speed up judicial proceedings and reduce pendency in the Indian courts. In this way, technology has seeped itself into the legal foray and it will only help the field in being more transparent, accountable and above all cut down on time consuming and expensive litigation thereby encouraging more litigants to approach the court for expeditious relief and remedy.
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