Today(10th April), the four Bar associations at the Madras High Court jointly submitted a request to Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala, seeking solutions to challenges in the e-filing process. The representation, endorsed by the presidents of MHAA, Madras Bar Association, Law Association, and Women Lawyers Association, highlighted issues such as file size limits, PDF conversion requirements, and delays in listing writs.
The four Bar associations at the Madras High Court jointly submitted a request to Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala, urging him to address various challenges faced by lawyers in the e-filing process at both the High Court and district courts.
The representation, endorsed by G Mohanakrishnan (President of MHAA), M Baskar (President of Madras Bar Association), P Selvaraj (President of Law Association), and Louisal Ramesh (President of Women Lawyers Association), presented to Chief Justice Gangapurwala on Tuesday, April 9.
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In their letter, the Bar members highlighted issues such as the inadequate maximum file size limit of 20MB, the requirement to convert PDFs to OCR, the obligatory submission of hard copies after electronic filing, and the time-consuming scanning of case bundles.
Additionally, the letter mentions frequent server or e-filing portal malfunctions and recurring glitches in the payment interface as further challenges faced by lawyers during the e-filing process.
The letter states,
“The process of scanning case bundles in the writ section is time-consuming. It appears that the scanning department is short-staffed, leading to delays in listing writs for admission promptly. Typically, there is a delay of approximately three to four days between the date of numbering and the date of listing. This situation leaves advocates unable to provide timely updates to their clients.”
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The lawyers highlighted that e-filing services initially introduced at the Madras High Court during the COVID-19 pandemic, and at that time, the system operated smoothly without any issues. They emphasized the need to rectify the current system’s glitches and restore the e-filing process to its pandemic-era efficiency.
Additionally, the lawyers put forward suggestions to enhance the existing system, including the implementation of helplines and kiosks to provide support for e-filing procedures.
Read Letter: