"It is sad to note that inspite of the fact that problems faced, by not only members of GHCAA but also Registry itself, are within the knowledge of Registry and IT Department, there is no attempt to improve the system."
The Gujarat High Court Advocates Association (GHCAA) has written to the Registrar General of the Gujarat High Court, highlighting various issues faced by its members while availing e-filing facilities and in the circulation of filed matters.
The GHCAA states that over 250 complaints received by the Association in these respects.
The grievances of the Advocates, as pointed out in the letter, includes the following:
Despite of having dealt with the objections, matters are neither coming on the Board nor being numbered after 10 to 15 days from date of filing.
No system is in place to allow appearance on behalf of a complainant to object a bail application, unlike the case when the Court functions normally.
Disposed matters were recently included in a list published by the Registry of matters stated to be in need of rectifying office objections.
As regards the e-filing system, grievance is registered that there is only one email address for email-filing. Further, that there are limitations on the size of the file that can be uploaded and no option for mentioning of matters at the start of a court session.
It is pointed out that a public notice dated May 26, issued by the Gujarat High Court inviting suggestions about current system of email-filing itself poses a problem.
In this regard, it is noted that the notice was in a pdf format, which would require advocates to convert the same in a doc format, print it, fill it, scan it and then send the filled form to provide suggestions.
Givent that a lot of advocates do not have the necessary facilities to carry out the same, it is stated that the purpose of inviting suggestion is completely lost as only a few responses would be sent.
It is added that while the GHAA approached the High Court's IT Department with a proposal to use user friendly Google Forms to invite suggestions, the Registrar (SCMS & ICT) failed to appreciate their efforts and has not reverted yet.
"To say the least, it is the obstinate approach of the Registry", states the letter signed off by the GHCAA Secretary.
In the backdrop of these issues, the GHCAA has registered its anguish that there has been no attempt to improve the filing process since its launch, despite the Bar extending its full support.
"It is sad to note that inspite of the fact that problems faced, by not only members of GHCAA but also Registry itself, are within the knowledge of Registry and IT Department, there is no attempt to improve the system by Registry (sic)."
GHAA Letter
It is also brought to the Court's notice that on multiple occasions the assigned registry officials do not pick up the phones. As such, the GHCAA has urged that a dedicated helpline number may be put in place for the advocates so that they can directly get in touch with the Registry and inquire about their matters.
The GHCAA has also provided a list of grievances prepared from a Google Grievance Form, created by the secretary of the Association, wherein the members have raised their grievances and issues with the current email filing system.
