UP E-FILING RULES FOR DISTRICT COURTS AND TRIBUNALS OF UTTAR PRADESH, 2020

PREAMBLE

These Rules will apply to online filing through internet or e-filing through Designated Counters and facilities provided for e-filing, including e-Service Centers. These rules will apply to such categories of cases as would be notified by the High Court. These Rules amend and consolidate the existing Rules and Practice Directions.

Rule - 1. Short title, Applicability and Commencement.

(1)     These Rules may be called the UP e-filing Rules for District Courts and Tribunals of Uttar Pradesh, 2020.

(2)     They shall be applicable for the District Courts and Tribunals sub-ordinate to High Court of Judicature at Allahabad.

(3)     These Rules will come into force from the date notified by the High Court.

Rule - 2. Definitions.

2.1. Action: includes all proceedings instituted in the Court such as suits, Criminal complaints, appeals, civil or criminal writ petitions, revision petitions, contempt petitions, execution petitions, arbitration petitions, probate cases and interlocutory applicants.

2.2. Administrator: means the Central Project Co-ordinator (CPC) or District Nodal Officer (Computer) or an officer appointed by the Chief Justice for administering and dealing with matters connected with or in relation to e-filing.

2.3. Approved Intermediaries: means the Central Record-keeping Agency and the authorised Collection Centres including all its offices and branches as appointed with the prior approval of the appointing authority to act as an intermediary between the Government and the Court Fees payer for collection of Court Fees under the U.P.E.-Court Rules, 2016.

2.4. Bench: means and includes one or more Judges assigned to adjudicate upon actions or the presiding officers of the Court or Tribunal, as the case may be.

2.5. Physical Filing: means actions and pleadings filed as hard copies.

2.6. Designated Counter: means and includes Centralised Filing Counter or other Counter designated for e-filing by District Judge or Presiding Officer of the concerned Court/Tribunal.

2.7. District Courts: means and includes the District Courts and Tribunals functioning under the control and supervision of the High Court.

2.8. Electronic Filing (e-filing): means e-filing of any action before any District Court or Tribunal, as the case may be, through the internet at the web-portal of the Court and through the internet/intranet at Designated Counters, unless the context requires otherwise.

2.9. Evidence: means evidence as defined under Section 3 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872(1 of 1872).

2.10. High Court: means the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad.

2.11. Objections: means and includes deficiencies and errors pointed out by the Registry office of the court in relation to the actions instituted in the Court.

2.12. Opposite Party: includes defendant(s), respondents, judgment debtor(s), non-applicant(s) and opponent(s).

2.13. Party: means appellant(s), plaintiff(s), petitioner(s), complainant(s), decree-holder(s) and applicant(s).

2.14. Pleadings: means pleadings, whether civil or criminal, filed in support or defence of an action including affidavits, counter-affidavits and supplementary affidavits.

2.15. PDF: means an electronic document filed in a portable document format.

2.16. PDF/A: means an ISO-standardised version of the Portable Document Format (PDF) specialised for the digital preservation of electronic documents.

2.17. Registry: means the Registry of the Court or Munsarim or the office clerk of the concerned Court or Tribunal dealing with registration of the particular case.

2.18. Statement of Defence: means and includes written statements, replies, counter-affidavits and additional or supplementary affidavits.

2.19. Technical Failure: means a failure of the court's hardware, software, and/or telecommunications facility which results in the impossibility of submitting a file electronically. Technical failure does not include malfunctioning of the equipment of person submitting an e-file.

2.20. Third Party: means and includes any person or entity seeking to become a party or to intervene in an action.

2.21. Working Day: means and includes a day when the office of the Court is working under the calendar published or as directed by the Court.

2.22. Web-portal: means webpage with domain www.efiling.ecourts.gov.in or any other domain name as may be notified by the Supreme Court of India or the High Court from time to time.

Rule - 3. General Instruction.

3.1. On line e-filing shall be made by visiting the web portal of the Court, namely: www.efiling.ecourts.gov.in.

3.2. Except as provided in these Rules, actions, whether in fresh, pending or disposed of cases, will be filed electronically by an advocate or litigant in person from their home, office or other remote location in the manner provided in these Rules.

3.3. Any person who is unable to access the e-filing portal would be entitled to make use of the facilities: provided at the Designated Counters for the purpose upon payment of charges, as may be stipulated.

3.4. The size of the e-file should not exceed 300 MB. In case the file size exceeds 300 MB, the Advocate or litigant should visit any one of the Designated Centres for enabling e-filing through the internet.

Rule - 4. Steps for registration.

4.1. The Advocates are required to submit their details to the concerned District Court for necessary entry in CIS.

4.2. The Advocates and Litigants in person are required to take following steps:

(i)       Advocates.

(a)      Should visit the web portal (http://www.efiling.ecourts.gov.in) to view the form;

(b)      Click the registration link;

(c)      Fill the form with requisite details;

(d)      Submit the filled-up form along with a self-attested copy of the Bar Council Registration Certificate or Bar Council I-Card (in PDF/JPG/JPEG format only).

(ii)      Litigants in person.

(a)      Should visit the web portal (http://www.efiling.ecourts.gov.in) to view the form.

(b)      Click the registration link.

(c)      Fill the form with requisite details.

(d)      Submit the filled-up form along with a self-attested copy of any identity document issued by the Government (in PDF/JPG/JPEG format only).

4.3. Litigants in person shall submit an affidavit/undertaking that they have not engaged an Advocate in the action. A litigant in person who subsequently engages an Advocate, shall make an application before the Administrator for transferring the data in respect of the action to the Advocate account. Once the Administrator allows the application, the data in the action shall be transferred in the user account of the Advocate. The litigant in person will not be in a position to modify the data of the subject action, without the permission of the Administrator.

4.4. A login ID will be allotted on the next working day if the application is found complete in all aspects.

Rule - 5. Frame of Pleadings.

The pleadings should be clear and concise. Parties and their parties should set forth their claims/averments in separate paragraphs. The statement of truth/affidavit of the concerned person must bear their electronic signature. Opposite! parties should also file their replies under sequentially numbered paragraphs and headings (such as preliminary objections and objections on merits.)

Rule - 6. Formatting.

6.1. All the original typed text materials including notice of motion, memorandum of parties, main petition or appeal, interlocutory application(s), reply, status report, affidavit, documents will be prepared electronically using the following formatting style:

Paper size: A4

Top Margin: 1.5"

Bottom margin: (1")

Left Margin: 1.75"

Right Margin: (0.5")

Alignment: Justified

Font: English (Arial size: 12)Font size: 14(12)

Line spacing: 1.5 (2")

If any document is typed in a local language in Trial Courts, it must be prepared using Hindi Unicode (font 14).

6.2. The document should be converted into Optical Character Recognition (OCR) searchable Portable Document Format (PDF) or PDF/A using any PDF converter or in-built PDF conversion plug-in provided in the software. PDF/A is the preferred format.

6.3. a Document which is not text document and has to be enclosed with the action, should be scanned using an image resolution of 300 DPI (dots per inch), in OCR searchable mode and saved as a PDF document.

Rule - 7. Electronic Signatures.

7.1. The PDF document shall be digitally signed by the parties and/or by their Advocate. The digital signatures shall be appended on such places on the PDF document as prescribed under the extant rules. If neither the party nor the Advocate who has been engaged possess a digital signature, a print out of the action shall be physically signed by the party concerned and/or their Advocate in accordance with rules and it shall thereafter be scanned and uploaded.

7.2. A litigant in person or advocate who does not possess a digital Signature issued by the competent authority can authenticate e-filed documents by e-Sign based on Aadhaar authentication or may e-Sign the document through OTP (One-Time Password) received on the mobile number of the party or advocate.

Rule - 8. Do's and Don’ts’s.

8.1. The text documents and scanned documents set out in clauses 6.3 and 7.1 should be merged as a single OCR searchable PDF file and should be book-marked as per the Master Index, duly approved by the Registry.

8.2. The merged documents should be uploaded at the time of on-line e-filing.

8.3. Once e-filing is accepted, the filing or registration number shall be notified to the Advocate or litigant in person.

8.4. In case on-line e-filing includes audio and/or video files, the Administrator shall generate a hash value.

8.5. Special Characters are not allowed while e-filing Memo of Parties and Advocate remarks.

8.6. Document Binary file Name Standards.

The following special characters are not allowed in a file name:

A quotation mark (")

A number sign/Pound (#)

Per cent (%)

Ampersand (&)

Asterisk (*)

Colon (:)

Angle brackets (less than greater than) (< >)

A question Mark (?)

Backslash ()

Forward slash (/)

Braces (left and right) ({})

Pipe (l)

A tilde (-)

The period (.) character used consecutively in the middle of the file name or at the beginning or end of the file name.

File names should not exceed 45 characters in length, including spaces. Single space must be counted as one character each.

8.7. On line e-filing shall not be watermarked or encrypted. The e-filed documents shall not contain any virus, malware, spam-ware, trojan horse or the like. All the e-filled documents shall be legible and free of marking, track changes or annotation.

Rule - 9. Payment of Court Fees/Other Charges.

Court fee and other charges can be paid either electronically by purchase on the online facility provided by the authorised agency/Central Record Keeping Agency/Approved Intermediaries or from the designated counters provided for the purpose in the District Courts or from any authorised collection Centre of Central Record Keeping Agency or any authorised court fee vendor. The Transaction ID provided upon payment of court fee and other charges is required to be entered in the appropriate field at the time of on-line e-filing.

Rule - 10. Retention of Originals.

10.1. Originals of the documents that are scanned and digitally signed by the Advocate or the litigant in person at the time of e-filing should be preserved, for production or inspection, as may be directed by the Bench.

10.2. The signed vakalatnama, signed and notarized/attested affidavit and any other document whose authenticity is likely to be questioned should be preserved, at least, for two years till after, the final disposal of the action. Final disposal shall include disposal of the action by the superior appellant court.

10.3. Notwithstanding anything above, the following documents will have to be preserved permanently:

(a)      A Negotiable Instrument (other than a cheque) as defined in Section 13 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 (26 of 1881).

(b)      A Power-of-Attorney as defined in Section 1 -A of the Powers of Attorney Act, 1882 (7 of 1882).

(c)      A Trust as defined in Section 3 of the Indian Trusts Act, 1882 (2 of 1882).

(d)      A Will as defined in clause (h) of Section 2 of the Indian Succession Act, 1925 (39 of 1925) including any other testamentary disposition by whatever name called.

(e)      Any contract for the sale or conveyance of immovable property or any interest in such property.

(f)       Any other document as may be directed by the Bench.

10.4. The responsibility of producing the originals and proving their genuineness shall be of the party that has electronically filed scanned copies of the document. '

Rule - 11. Access to the Electronic Data of the Action.

Access free of cost will be available to authorised person(s) to data e-filed by any of the parties to specific action, as is presently being provided in pending actions. This facility shall be in addition to the procedure of obtaining certified copies.

Rule - 12. Exemption from e-filing.

Exemption from on-line e-filing of the entire pleading or a part of the pleadings and/or documents may be permitted by the concerned Bench or Court or Tribunal upon an application being made for that purpose in the following circumstances:

(i)       where on line e-filing is for reasons set out in the application not feasible; or

(ii)      where there are concerns about confidentiality and protection of privacy; or

(iii)     where the document cannot be scanned or filed electronically because of its size, shape or condition; or

(iv)    where the on line e-filing portal is either inaccessible or not available for some reason; and/or

(v)      for a just and sufficient cause.

Rule - 13. Service of Electronic Documents.

In addition to prescribed mode or service, notices, documents, pleadings that are filed electronically may also be served through the designated e-mail IDs of Registry officials to the e-mail addresses of the advocates or parties, if available. E-mail IDs of Registry officials will be published on the Court website to enable the recipients to verify the source of the e-mail.

Rule - 14. Computation of Time.

14.1. Wherever limitations/time limits apply, it will be the responsibility of the party concerned to ensure that the filing is carried out well before the cutoff date and time. The date of e-filing will be taken as the date when the action is electronically received in the Registry within the prescribed time on any working day. For computation of the time at which e-filing is made, Indian Standard time (1ST) will apply.

14.2. E-filing through Designated Counters will be permissible up to 16.00 hours on any court working day. On-line e-filing carried out after 16.00 hours on any day will be treated as received on next working day. Action filed on a date declared as Gazette holiday or on a day when the court is closed, will be regarded as having been filed on the next working day. For the computation of limitation, on line e-filing shall be subject to the same legal regime as applicable to physical filing, save and accept as provided hereinabove.

14.3. The facility of on line e-filing through the web portal shall be available during all twenty four hours of each day, subject to breakdown,' server downtime, system maintenance or such other exigencies. Where on line e-filing is not possible for any of the reason set out above, parties can either approach the Designated Counters for e-filing between normal court hours on court working days or take recourse to physical filing. No exemption from limitation shall be permitted on the ground of a failure of the web based on line e-filing facility.

14.4. Provisions for limitation governing on line e-filing will be the same as those applicable to physical filing. The period of limitation for such actions will commence from the date when e-filing is made as per the procedure prescribed in these Rules.

Rule - 15. Procedure for Filing Caveat.

All caveats can be filed on line.

Rule - 16. Hard Copies of Pleadings and Documents filed Electronically.

Advocates, as well as parties, may print hard copies of all pleadings and documents filed electronically for their use in the court or elsewhere. The Registry will, wherever required, prepare hard copies for official use.

Rule - 17. Storage and Retrieval of e-filed Documents and Pleadings.

E-filings will be stored on an exclusive server maintained under the control and direction of the Court. Each such filing will be separately labelled and encrypted for facilitating easy identification and retrieval. The security of such filings will be ensured. Access to e-filings would be restricted in the manner provided hereinabove and as may be notified from time to time. For continuity of operations in case of disaster, natural calamity or breakdown, a mirror image, of e-filings available on the servers located in the Court may be maintained at different geographical locations, as decided from time to time by the Court.

Rule - 18. Residuary provisions.

18.1. The e-filing made by an Advocate/litigant in person will be rejected if they do not follow the protocol mandated by these Rules or practice directions.

18.2. Subject to such further directions as may be issued, it would not be obligatory on the opposite party to accept pleadings and documents by email. In such an eventuality, hard copies of pleadings and documents will have to be provided to the opposite party. In such circumstances, the party can be called upon to deposit the charges calculated on the basis of the number of pages per opposite party, which are required to be copied. This facility will be provided by the Registry on a written request being made by the opposite party.

18.3. The Registry will communicate the objections, if any, regarding the cases filed by e-mail/SMS/web hosting to the concerned Advocate/litigant in person. After the objections are cleared, the case will be processed for listing and. the Advocate/litigant in person will be informed including by e-mail/SMS.

Rule - 19. General Caution.

E-mail is not a secure medium of communication. Any Communication transmitted by e-mail can be intercepted or read by a third-party. An Advocate or litigant in [person seeking to transmit confidential or sensitive document material, shall approach the Registry for requisite assistance/advice.

Rule - 20. Liability Clauses.

The High Court or District Court or Tribunal or Registry or any other authority shall not be liable for any civil or criminal proceedings for any loss, injury and damage to any person or property for any act done or. purported to be done! in pursuance to these Rules.