Jammu & Kashmir High Court ends practice of permitting cases related to Jammu wing being filed in Srinagar wing and vice versa

The Jammu & Kashmir High Court has put an end to the practice of permitting cases relating to Jammu wing being filed in Srinagar wing and vice verse. .The decision was taken by Chief Justice (CJ) Pankaj Mithal on May 20 in view of the fact that e-filing of cases is now permissible in both wings of the High Court for more than a year and practical difficulties/ impracticability in filing cases in the concerned wing no longer exists. .Earlier, if due to practical difficulties, a person could not file a case related to one wing in that wing, he/she could seek the permission of the Chief Justice of High Court and file it in the other wing. ."The difficulty/ impracticability in filing a case in a particular wing of the High Court is comprehensible when filing is available only through physical mode but, this difficulty/impracticability is beyond imagination when e-filing is also permitted whereby anyone can file his/her case in any wing of the High Court from anywhere. The practice of seeking permission to file a case, pertaining to a particular wing, in other wing of the High Court must come to an end when cases are permitted to be filed through e-mode," an order issued by the CJ on the administrative side said.For last one year due to the prevailing situation having arisen because of the spread of COVID- 19, the High Court has switched over to the hybrid mode of filing and hearing of cases in both wings of the High Court, whereby cases are also filed through e-mode..Hence, in view of the availability of the facility of filing through e-mode as well in both wings of the High Court, no application shall be entertained for seeking permission to file a case related to a particular wing, in the other wing of the High Court, the order said. .The practice to allow filing of cases in the "unrelated" wing of the High Court was provided by way of a circular issued by the High Court in 2010. It provided that in exceptional circumstances when it is not practicable to file a matter in the wing concerned, it may be filed at the other wing with the leave of the Chief Justice or in his absence, the senior most judge available at the headquarters. .However, despite permitting e-filing of cases since last year, the office of the Chief Justice is flooded with applications on administrative side for grant of leave to file cases pertaining to a particular wing in other wing of the High Court rendering e-filing meaningless, the order passed by CJ noted. This prompted the CJ to issue the May 20 order stating that no such application shall now be entertained. .In this regard, an order contained the following directions:1. In ordinary courses filing shall be done in physical mode in the concerned wing of the High Court, however, e-filing is also permitted through any available digital mode.2. In view of the availability of the facility of filing through e-mode as well in both wings of the High Court, no application shall be entertained for seeking permission to file a case, related to a particular wing, in other wing of the High Court.3. In case a party opts for e-filing, for record purposes, such party shall also submit hard copy of the matter to the concerned wing of the High Court either physically or through any other available alternate mode like Registered Post, Speed Post etc with promptness.4. The High Court shall establish "Vidhik Seva Kendra"in both wings of the High Court and also in each District of UTs of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh to facilitate the filing the matters in concerned wings of the High Court through e-mode. The "Vidhik Seva Kendra" shall also facilitate the litigants, who face any difficulty in filing their matters in High Court, in forwarding the hard copies of their matters to the concerned wing of the High Court by Registered Post or Speed Post etc.5. The litigants of Ladakh instead of travelling to Srinagar or Jammu for filing matters in the High Court, may approach to the "Vidhik Seva Kendra" in their district to avail the facility of filing their matters through e-mode with the help of "Vidhik Seva Kendra". The matters of Ladakh so filed may, if possible and convenient, be heard in the concerned wing through video conference.6. The matters filed in physical mode would be processed by the Registry in the normal mode to be placed before the Bench concerned as per the roster and a soft copy of it would also be prepared for the record purpose. Similarly, where the matters are filed through e-mode, for facilitating immediate hearing of such matters, the Registry shall take print out of such matters and place it before the roster bench hearing the matter.7. The print out so prepared in terms of the preceding conditions may be destroyed without reference to any order or rule once the matter as a whole is decided, however, its soft copy shall be preserved for the purposes of the record..The Jammu and Kashmir High Court has territorial jurisdiction over two Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. The High Court is one indivisible court having two places of sitting (wings), one at Jammu and the other at Srinagar. .The Chief Justice allots work to Judges sitting at Jammu wing and the Srinagar wing. The Headquarter of the Chief Justice during winters is at Jammu and during summer at Srinagar..[Read Order]