Times
of India: Nagpur: Monday, 04 January 2016.
A query under
Right to information (RTI) Act has revealed that 1480 applications for
certified copies of judgments and other documents were pending for various
reasons at the record room of the District court till December last year. The
reply to query has also revealed that another 1440 applications were awaiting
fulfilment at the copying section of chief judicial magistrate (CJM) that
caters to the records of lower courts. The documents are supposed to be
delivered in 48 hours as per the rule book.
The RTI
response also stated that 498 certified copies out of 1440 pending before CJM's
copying section were ready but applicants had not turned up to collect them.
Some 165 applicants did not pay remainder of the fees to collect copies for
which they had applied.
In district
court's record room520 applications for copies of judgments in civil cases, 593
in criminal cases and 367 for claim petitions were pending till December. The
certified copies of judgments are mostly required for filing appeals in the
higher courts or to get an order implemented by an agency.
The legal
fraternity and litigants are facing much difficulty in seeking justice as
record and copying sections are struggling to meet demands of applicants in
absence of any infrastructure or proper system in place. Experts asked whether
this delay could not be addressed as it was also denying justice to many. The
pending applications include 846 for express delivery of documents in copying
section of CJM's court. The applicants in these case have paid higher fees so
they would get copies early. In all 594 ordinary applications were also pending
at the same place. "A fee of Rs 7 per page is charged from private parties
in express applications and papers are expected to be delivered in three days.
For ordinary applications the period allowed is a week and the fees is Rs 4 per
page. In reality, the delivery rarely happens in this time," he said.
A senior
administrative court official said the work of digitization of records was
underway and many old ones had destroyed as per the rule to make space for the
newer ones. "The delayed delivery of documents from record wings of the
court to copying sections is main reason for delays. There are also incorrect
applications that had to be rejected after scrutiny," said the official.
District Bar
Association (DBA) President Prakash Jaiswal said the copies should be furnished
on time. "Earlier, the work of issuing certified copies was outsourced to
DBA when it was made available promptly and cheaply. We must resume it,"
he said. District government pleader Vijay Kohle said the proposal of
'one-window' system should be implemented to resolve the issue.
"Government must ensure the court has adequate infrastructure," he
said.
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