Bombay High Court seeks status report from Maharashtra govt on publishing latest version of State laws online

The Bombay High Court on Monday directed the Maharashtra government to submit a status report on whether the State websites have been updated with the latest versions of all State laws and rules and whether they are being updated on real time basis [Mumbai Grahak Panchayat and Another. v. State of Maharashtra & Ors.]..The direction was passed in order to ascertain the extent of compliance with an earlier order dated May 5, 2017 passed by a co-ordinate bench of the High Court.The co-ordinate bench had directed in 2017 that within a period of 6 months, updated versions of all the State enactments and rules should be uploaded on the State government website and the same should be updated on real time basis.That order was passed in a bunch of pleas filed by Mumbai Grahak Panchayat and Bar Associations of consumer tribunals in 2011 which also included a suo motu public interest litigation of the High Court.The plea raised issues of infrastructure in civil and criminal courts in the State and consumer fora at State level and district level under the Consumer Protection Act.It was noted by the bench in 2017 that the updated versions of the State laws and the rules were neither being published in physical form nor were they being uploaded on the website."The orders passed by courts from time to time will show that there is a complete failure in uploading the updated versions of the bare acts and the statutory rules and regulations on the website of the State Government", the co-ordinate bench had commented.In light of this observation, the Bench had given a timeline for the State to follow..When the plea was listed today, the Bench who pointed out that judges and stenographers of courts were still not getting updated government documents.During the hearing, Bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice MS Karnik called upon the State to explain the extent to which the State has complied with the 2017 order..Advocate Uday Warunjikar, appearing for the petitioners, also pointed out that there were several courts in Maharashtra which still did not have a facility of clean and adequate drinking water.The Bench asked Warunjikar to submit a list of such courts on the next hearing date so that the Court can issue appropriate directions..[Read 2017 order]