WE TARGET TO ENHANCE CLARITY IN INDIAN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW/POLICY/INSTITUTIONS. WE ARE ALSO HERE FOR OBJECTIVE AND FAIR ANALYSIS/REPORTING OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY/INNOVATION/DEVELOPMENT POLICY FROM INDIA.
In India, there are certain headgears that are unique and happen to be pride of the particular region. One of them is Puneri Pagdi, and the Himachali topi is another famousheadgear. It is good that Shree Puneri Pagdi Sangha recently managed to obtain geographical indication (GI) status for the famed Puneri Pagadi, the traditional headgear of Maharashtrians, and thus ensure its conservation. The move to acquire the GI status for the famous headgear, which is considered to be the hallmark and honour of Pune, was mooted by the Pune's Shree Puneri Pagadi Sangh.
This headgear was the index of India''s revolutionary freedom fighters Balgangadhar Tilak and Gopal Krishna Gokhale, who sported the Puneri Pagdi with pride.
The Geographical indication (GI) status will make the headgear famous all over the world by the name of Puneri Pagdi. No one would be able to manufacture them through wrong means and would not be able to amend the traditional way of making them," said Girish Murudkar, member, Shree Puneri Pagadi Sangha. Great Mission Group Consultancy (GMGC), also based in Pune had completed the formalities for the grant of GI.
The GI status aims at promoting the economic prosperity of producers of goods in a geographical area. Usually, the tag is granted to goods that essentially originate and are produced in a defined geographical locality and region. Geographical indications are covered as part of intellectual property rights. With the endorsement of the GI, no turban made outside Pune region can be legally sold under the name of Puneri Pagadi and this will benefit local artisans.
The Puneri Pagdi can be popularised as a souvenir showcasing Indian tradition. Even the local artisans will gain employment by this.
Author Chetan Bhagat in his blog post has accused makers of the film '3 Idiots', modelled after his best-selling debut novel 'Five Point Someone', of not giving him credit for the story. Bhagat was paid an amount of Rs 9.9 lakhs for rights of the film, according to a document posted on Chopra's website. As per Chetan film makers added a story credit right upfront, without his name, negating his contribution. He also accused the makers of '3 Idiots' of "copying an original story and claiming it to be different." Film"3 Idiots", which released on December 25, grossed over Rs 130 crore in 7 days and is on its way to becoming one of the biggest hits of last year.
Bhagat, who has written four books so far and is one of India's most successful authors, said he was hurt that the credit for the story of the film went to Hirani and co-writer Abhijat Joshi.
Bhagat, who sold the rights of his book to producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra" by a contract , giving the right to modify or change the story to the producers. The contract also clearly states that credit shall be given to him in the rolling credits of the film, which was duly done," director Rajkumar Hirani said.
Chopra apologised to the media later, but by then the issue had turned into a mini-storm, with television channels replaying footage of his outburst and social networking sites like Twitter abuzz with comments.
As ministry of HRD recently established 18 IPR chairs, out of that one established in IIM Calcutta (IIM-C). IIM-C has now introduced "The Business of Intellectual Property" course for their Post Graduate Management students . Launched on 15th December 2009. This course will cover in detail the emergence of global IP architecture represented by the WTO-TRIPS Agreement, the legal and regulatory systems dealing with patents, trade marks, copyright, designs, trade secrets etc. Another area of focus will be the transactional issues in IP dealing with assignment, licensing, competition, securitisation, due diligence, valuation and various related issues in such transactions. Since most of the IP related transactions have a global impact, the course intends to provide a comparative perspective about the IP systems of USA, EU, UK and India. It also contains a brief module on IPR protection in China. Finally the course will also examine the ways in which IP regulations impact some of the important sectors like pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, entertainment and E- Commerce.
The Ministry of Human Resource Development Under the scheme of Intellectual Property Education, Research and Public Outreach (IPERPO) has so far set up 18 IPR Chairs in various universities and institutes considering their potential for development and growth of IPR Education, Research and Training. Out of 18 IPR Chairs set up so far, five (5) IPR Chairs are in Universities, five (5) IPR Chairs are in IITs five (5) IPR Chairs are in National Law Universities and three IPR chairs in IIMs (Kolkata, Bangalore and Ahmadabad).
The past twelve months in Cyberlaw were exceptionally active, with the amendment in Information Technology Act 2000, Cyberlaw as a field grew tremendously in the year 2009, and faced different battles over various law and technology issues. The struggle between the rights of sovereign nations to preserve national security and integrity vis-a-vis the personal private rights of individuals pertaining to privacy continued to grow and Cyber terrorism as a phenomenon firmly established itself as an important challenge before national governments and sovereign nations. The issue of distribution of content and data over computer resources located in different territorial jurisdictions connected to the cloud managed to gain enough significant recognition. My blogs for e.g Cyberlaw, Technolex, Technolexindia, and, IPLex, take a re-look at 2009 from A to Z:
A.Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, the secret copyright treaty that generated opposition in India and abroad as details on proposed language leaked out.
B.Barring a few offences, almost all cyber crimes in India have been made as bailable offences where the accused is entitled to bail as a matter of right.
C.Cyber terrorism was declared as a heinous crime punishable with life imprisonment and fine under the terms of the amended Information Technology Act 2000.
D.Deviation from stringent punishment for cyber criminals by enacting the Information Technology Amendment Act.2009.
E.Electronic evidences have been destroyed by some cyber criminals after released on bail. They have gone ahead of the Information Technology Amendment Act 2009.
F.Facebook, agreed to make significant privacy changes following a well-publicized investigation by Privacy Experts.
G.Google Street View, which launched, but not before a House of Commons committee probed the likely impact of the new mapping feature.
H.Harassment is specifically brought within the ambit of the Indian Cyberlaw.
I.i4i, the tiny Toronto firm that scored a big patent victory over software giant Microsoft, Identity theft continued to be a major cyber crime mover in various jurisdictions.
J.Jonathan Zitterain, chair Professor of Internet Law and Society, has done good contribution to growth of cyberlaw.
K.K is for CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein, who was in the spotlight with hearings on regulation of new media, Internet traffic management, and broadcast fees.
L.Legislative initiative, recently taken by the Govt. of India although laudable in its objectives, is likely to have counter-productive consequences if it is not regulated properly.
M.Misuse of confidential data and information is have good recognition under IT Amendment At 2009.This subject was continuously engaged the attention of the relevant stakeholders in different jurisdictions.
N.Notification and implementation of Information Technology (Amendment) Act 2008, defamation, cyber and nuisancenow specifically brought within the ambit of Cyberlaw in India.
O.One-click, the controversial Amazon.com business method patent that was denied validity by the Canadian Patent Appeal Board.
P.Psion, the Toronto-owned firm that threatened Dell over the use of the term "netbook."
Q.Queen v. Vasic, a criminal case in which an Ontario court ruled that combining Internet provider customer name and address information with IP address data could render the information sensitive.
R.Reduction of the quantum of punishment of cyber crimes by the Information Technology Amendment Act 2008, gives virtually a signal to cyber criminals to come and explore the fertile soils of India for perpetuating the cyber criminal designs and intentions.
S.Statistics of cybercriminal convictions are against India. A country of more than a billion populations and only a couple of cyber crime convictions is a question mark on the way cyberlaw in India being implemented.
T.TV Tax and Local TV Matters marketing campaigns that irritated various peoples from coast to coast. Tremendous improvement in cyberlaw over the earlier cyberlaw yet it brought forward its own practical peculiar problems and drawbacks.
U.Unwanted telemarketing calls that kept coming despite the existence of a various national do-not-call list.
V.Veit Joanne, an Alberta judge who ruled that Alberta Information and Privacy Commissioner Frank Work was wrong when he concluded the City of Edmonton can't force pawnshops to upload personal client details to an outside company's database.
W.WindMobile, the operating name of Globalive, a new wireless carrier that was told by the CRTC that it did not comply with foreign control restrictions, only to have the federal Cabinet overrule the regulator weeks later.
X."X" on electronic voting technologies, which Election authorities of various countries reportedly considering.
Y.YouTube, which received a video takedown demand. The crown corporation objected to a union-inspired video about the mail carrier's CEO.
Z.Zoocasa, the real estate search site that was sued by Century 21 for scraping listings from its website.
After going through A to Z developments in the field of cyberlaw in 2009, it is evident that Information technology issues are growing faster than expected. These developments are posing challenges before cyberlaw policy makers at international level in general and national level in particular. Let us just not wait and watch but be ready with better regulation, control, protection and management of rights and liabilities in fast growing digital world to have better knowledge economy.
The Law and Technology Committee of the Student Bar Association of the National Law School of India University has invited abstracts for proposed papers that are to be presented at its annual law & tech conference – Consilience - 2010.
Consilience is an annual conference organised by the Law and Technology Committee of the Student Bar Association, at the National Law School of India University, Bangalore, India. It is devoted to the field of technology law and has sought to inspire academic debates and tackle contentious issues of contemporary relevance. Past editions of the conference have brought together luminaries like Mr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia (Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission), Mr. R. Ramraj (MD and CEO, Sify Technologies Ltd.,), Mr. Richard Stallman (Founder – GNU Project), Hon'ble Justice Yatindra Singh (Allahabad High Court, India), Mr. Rahul Matthan (Partner, Trilegal ) and have discussed issues relating to "Legal Aspects of Business Process Outsourcing", "Biotechnology and the Law" and "Free and Open Source Software".
This year, the Law and Technology Committee in association with the Centre for Internet and Society would be organizing Consilience-2010 with the topic for discussion as "Internet Intermediary Liability in India". This year's edition of Consilience seeks to not only bring leading academicians to debate upon the topic of contention but also looks to increase and encourage student participation.
In this regard, we invite abstracts related to the topic tracks of discussion as enumerated in the concept note. The abstracts must be roughly 500 words and should clearly identify the issue they are dealing with, and the argument that they seek to put forward and should strictly conform to the guidelines below. The abstracts must be footnoted and the conference follows a very strict policy on plagiarism and runs all submissions through plagiarism detection software. Selected abstracts will be notified on January 25th and the authors are required to submit a final paper by March 5th. Authors are required to note that the organizers reserve the right to reject the final paper even after acceptance of the abstract if it is felt that the final paper is unsuitable to be presented, being off topic, too different from the abstract, containing plagiarized material, of low quality or any other such reason.
Oh my Dear, Forget ur Fear, Let all ur Dreams be Clear, Never put Tear, Please Hear, I want to tell some thing in ur Ear Beauty.. Freshness.. Dreams.. Truth.. Imagination.. Feeling.. Faith.. Trust.. This is beginning of a new year! Like birds, let us, leave behind what we don't need to carry… GRUDGES, SADNESS, PAIN, FEAR and REGRETS Life is beautiful, Enjoy it.
The idea of peace is something that is so close to our hearts that we want even the sound of it. It is almost like pronouncing the letters of the word alone has some magical power to captivate audiences and steer our attention away from the terrible reality of widespread hatred and violence. Forgetting that for a moment and imagining living in a state of tranquility just the way you would like to with nobody forcing us. But the current events seem endlessly full of atrocities toward mankind. This is not new however and as long as there is man and his ego there will be war and hatred.
Why the peace is so important to humanity? Where does this deep drive come from? This is hopefully due to the fact that humanity needs freedom. Every human being suffers when it is oppressed and beat down made to do what someone else dictates to them. Dictatorships supporting totalitarian views with major control issues seem to always be in power everywhere you look for all eternity.
The freedom teaches us a profound lesson in life. Each of us seeks to be free in one way or another. This does not mean that rules are bad or harm us. To the contrary. We all have some kind of major identity problem struggling to keep ourselves satisfied. We struggle to live up to our own expectations and almost always we let ourselves down to some degree. If we gave ourselves the time to figure out what we really wanted and what is truly important to us in life. If we were able to look back at our accomplishments after all was said and done and recognize those that truly mattered most and made a difference. The world would be free. We would be free. Free from our own insufficiencies. Free from the manmade pitfalls we set ourselves up for in life on a regular basis. We would be at real peace. But unfortunately the idea of resting in peace is only expected after death. I say no! we must not rest in peace we must live in peace.
A Bill providing for speedy disposal of commercial cases by commercial divisions of High Courts in the country has been sent to the Select Committee of Parliament because Rajya Sabha members wanted a thorough discussion on it.
Under the new law, the commercial divisions of the High Courts were proposed to take up cases worth Rs 5 crore and above and follow a fast track procedure for the disposal of such cases.
Judges with aptitude in accountancy and commercial matters were proposed to be allocated to this division in various High Courts.
In its recently concluded Winter Session, the lower house of Parliament, the Lok Sabha, passed 'The Commercial Division of High Courts Bill', 2009. The Bill which is based on the recommendations of the 188th Report of the Law Commission of India aims at the adjudication of big ticket commercial disputes, Rs. 5 crores or above, within a timespan of one year.
The Statement of objects and reasons of the bill provides that due to phenomenal changes that have taken place in India in the last decade leading to enormous growth in our commercial and industrial sectors. The policies of the Government have changed radically from 1991, the year in which our economy was opened up to foreign investment in a big way. Privatization, liberalization and globalization have resulted in a big boost to our economy. At the same time, world has become very much competitive. With such rapid increase in our commerce and trade, commercial disputes involving high stakes are increasing. Unless, there is a new and effective mechanism for resolving them speedily and effectively, progress will be retarded. Against the aforementioned background, the Law Commission of India in its 188th Report on "Proposals for Constitution of Hi-Tech Fast Track Commercial Division in High Courts" has recommended the constitution of Commercial Division in each High Court. The Law Commission had examined the feasibility of 'Commercial Division' in the High Courts in India on the model of the Commercial Division in the High Courts of UK, USA and certain other countries. The Law Commission recommended the creation of 'Commercial Division' with High- Tech facilities in each High Court so that they may handle 'commercial cases' of high threshold value on fast track basis.
At the Joint Conference of Chief Ministers of the States and Chief Justices of the High Courts held on 16th August, 2009 in New Delhi, the 188th Report of the Law Commission of India on constitution of Commercial Division in High Courts was considered and a decision was taken in the said meeting to the effect that Commercial Division be constituted by the High Courts within itself as and when legislation in this regard is enacted by the Parliament.
Constitution of commercial division within a High Court will have many advantages. As of now, pecuniary jurisdiction of Civil Courts for trying civil disputes includingcommercial disputes differs from State to State. In some States, District Courts are having unlimited pecuniary jurisdiction and in some other States, original jurisdiction of higher pecuniary value is vested with the High Court. States where District Courts are having unlimited pecuniary jurisdiction, the orders, judgments or decrees passed by these District Courts are appealable before the High Court. However, upon setting up of Commercial Division in High Courts, all the commercial disputes of high threshold value (Rs.five crore or higher value as may be specified) will be filed in the High Court and would be dealt with by the Commercial Division. It would speed up the disposal of these cases as District Courts would have no jurisdiction in such cases. Commercial Division of High Court would be Court of original jurisdiction for such cases.
The specified value which is the minimum threshold limit can be enhanced by the Central Government in consultation with the concerned High Court and the State Government by notification and different values can be specified for different High Courts. The Commercial Division shall follow Fast Track procedure for the disposal of cases. The said procedure is prescribed in the Bill itself. Power of execution of decree and orders passed by the Commercial Division are also proposed to be vested in the Commercial Division. Fast Track procedure would definitely curtail the time taken in disposal of such cases.
The Commercial Division shall, within thirty days of the conclusion of argument, pronounce judgment and copies thereof shall be issued to all the parties to the dispute through electronic mail or otherwise. A single judge sitting in the Commercial Division may hold one or more case management conferences; fix a time schedule for finalisation of issues, cross-examination of witnesses, filing of written submission and for oral submission; provide for record of evidence in cross-examination and re-examination; appoint commissioner for recording of cross-examination or re-examination provided any order for the purpose of fixing limits which may lead to the disposal of the matter for default or ex parte, shall be passed by a Bench of two Judges.
As of now, applications for setting aside of arbitration awards under section 34 and execution of arbitral award under section 36 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996
have to be filed in the 'Court' as defined in clause (e) of sub-section (1) of the said Act. Such court is the Principal Civil Court of original jurisdiction in a District. District Court is normally a principle civil court of original jurisdiction. Similarly appeal under section 37 of the said Act against granting or refusing to grant any measure under section 9; and setting aside or refusing to set aside an arbitral award under section 34 of the said Act lie to the court authorised by law to hear appeals from original decrees of the Court passing the order. Further appeal against order of arbitral tribunal accepting the plea referred to in sub-section (2) or sub-section (3) of section 16; or granting or refusing to grant an interim measure under section 17 lie to a court as defined in clause (e) of sub-section (1) of section 2 of the said Act, i.e. District Court. As per this procedure, a party desirous of delaying an arbitration award has ample scope for adopting delaying tactics by challenging the award or other orders of the arbitral tribunal by starting the litigation right from the District Court level. This defeats the spirit of arbitration which is meant to be a speedy alternate mode of dispute resolution.
To overcome this problem it is proposed that the Commercial Division will also entertain applications under sections 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 for setting aside of arbitral award, under section 36 of the said Act for execution of arbitral award and appeal under section 37 where the arbitration relates to or within the scope of the commercial disputes of the specified value. For this purpose, consequential amendments are also proposed in the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996.
An appeal against the order and decree passed by the Commercial Division shall lie before the Supreme Court. The decision to constitute Commercial Division is entirely within the discretion of the High Courts and the State Governments. According to the second proviso to subclause (3) of clause 1 of the Bill, the provisions of the proposed Act can be made applicable to a High Court only in consultation with the concerned Chief Justice and the concerned State Government or State Governments. Thus, sufficient time will be available to assess the likely impact on the workload on the High Courts before the constitution of the Commercial Division and enactment of the legislation will not immediately lead to an increase of workload upon the High Courts.
The proposed definition of 'commercial disputes' covers even IP disputes as is obvious from the following definition in Section 2 of the Bill: (a) "commercial dispute" means a dispute arising out of ordinary transactions of merchants, bankers and traders such as those relating to enforcement and interpretation of mercantile documents, export or import of merchandise, affreightment, carriage of goods, franchising, distribution and licensing agreements, maintenance and consultancy agreements, mercantile agency and mercantile usage, partnership, technology development in software, hardware, networks, internet, website and intellectual property such as trademark, copyright, patent, design, domain names and brands and such other commercial disputes which the Central Government may notify.
Typically the court assuming original jurisdictions in most commercial disputes are the District Courts. For examples the Patents Act, the Trademarks Act and the Copyirght Act all name the District Court as the court of first instance before which a suit for infringement can be filed. Normally law suits cannot be filed directly before a High Court. A High Court is usually confined to hearing appeals from District Court apart from being the only courts in a State to exercise writ jurisdiction. The only exception to this rule are the High Courts of Bombay, Madras, Calcutta, Delhi and Jammu & Kashmir. The first three were set up by the British in the 19th Century through the Indian High Courts Act, 1861. The Delhi High Court was created as recently as 1966 and is definitely the most dynamic of all these High Courts. These 5 High Courts have Original Jurisdiction i.e. lawsuits of a particular valuation can be filed directly in these High Courts provided that the High Court has the territorial jurisdiction to try these cases. Normally the territorial jurisdiction of these High Courts does not extend beyond the boundaries of the cities in which these Courts are based.
Most IP infringement suits are filed in these High Courts which have original jurisdiction as Indian District Courts are woefully underequipped to adjudicate complex high value commercial disputes. This is not to say that the High Courts, with original jurisdiction, are brimming with resources but there is no arguing that these Courts are definitely better off than the District Courts both in terms of resources and manpower.
By setting up dedicated Division Benches in all 21 High Courts across the country this Bill will bestow Original Jurisdiction on all High Courts making them the epicentre of all commercial litigation in indiviudal states. This makes a lot of sense because most businesses are based out of the capital cities of individual states and High Courts are usually situated in these capital cities.
Image of Bombay High Court. Photo Credit: Nichalp. The 'Unbelievable' Procedural Reforms: Apart from consolidating the forums of high value commercial disputes this Bill brings in absolutely unbelievable reform in the procedural laws of India. Currently the only time limit in the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, is the 30 days time limit to file the written statement (this is the first pleading filed by the defendant in response to the lawsuit filed by the Plaintiff).
This amendment, which was introduced in 2002, signficantly fast-tracked the process because until this statutory time limit was introduced the normal practice for the Defendants was to delay filing a written statement for upto a year after the suit had been filed. With the 30 days time limit being enforced strictly by judges Defendants actually began to file written statements within the 30 days time limit.
The truly revolutionary provision of the Bill however is Section 9(5) which requires the Commercial Division to pronounce a judgment within 30 days of arguments concluding and the matter being reserved for Orders. This is absolutely revolutionary because Indian judges, even judges of the High Court can take upto one year to pronounce Orders on an application for interim injunction in cases of patent infringement. Such a delay is simply outrageous. Having said that it can expected that there will be significant opposition from the judiciary to imposing this 30 day limit.
Another significant change introduced by the Bill is the introduction of case management conference presided by one of the Judges of the Commercial Division, to fix schedules, dates along with time limits for oral arguments.
The above timelines have been drafted with a view to ensure that judgment is pronounced with a year of the law suit being filed.
Given the fact that most IP disputes do not even reach the stage of evidence in the one year period, this Bill is definitely good news The proposed Commercial Division Bill attempts to replicate this success by introducing time limits for every stage of a lawsuit. The Bill also proposes to consolidate the pleadings. Under the current law the only requirement at the stage of filing the suit is to submit a Plaint with some supporting documents. A plaint is limited to facts and involves no law. It basically lays out the cause of action and the relief that is requested from the Court. As per Section 9(2) of the proposed bill the Plaintiff will have to file the following pleadings and evidence along with the Plaint at the very initial stage of the lawsuit:
The Defendant in turn has to reply within 30 days. Additional evidence may be filed at the time of trial. The cross examination of witnesses on their examination in chief affidavits will be outsourced to a Court Commissioner who may either be a retired judge or a lawyer of some standing. This is one recommendation which will go a long way in fast-tracking commercial disputes because cross examination is the most time consuming component of a trial. This is a landmark step taken by the Govt of India.Let us wait and watch that upto what extent our law minister Virappa Moily gets success in passing the bill from Rajya Sabha. I have some reservations over the bill that i will be discussing in subsequent blogs.
The way these changes have been implemented has created a sense of insecurity among the users. This has made many of the sites 350 million users see red. Now Facebook allows its users to choose their level of privacy, by letting them restrict access to either friends, friends of friends or everyone. It's a feature that has helped the site gain many users.
But with the recent change — unless users actively manage their privacy settings themselves — their information like Family and Relationship, Education and Work, and their posts will be made visible to everyone, regardless of what their previous privacy settings were. Online observers believe the revised settings are a tactical move by Facebook to get search engines to index more information from the website, in order to counter growing competition from microblogging sites like Twitter.
Electronic privacy groups are already up in arms against Facebook. Recently, the Electronic Privacy Information Center filed a legal complaint in the US against the social networking site's new privacy settings, claiming the changes violate user expectations, diminish user privacy, and contradict Facebook's own representations.
Lok Sabha, has finally passed the Trademark (Amendment) Bill 2009, on the 18th of December, 2009. The bill will now be sent to the Rajya Sabha - which should hopefully have a more insightful debate on the proposed amendments. Once it is passed by the Rajya Sabha the bill become an Act of Parliament. The Trademark (Amendment) Bill, 2009 was originally introduced into Parliament as the Trademark (Amendment) Bill, 2007. The 2007 bill lapsed because of which it had to be re-introduced in July this year, the Amendment Bill aims to simplify the trademark registration process by enforcing the Madrid Protocolwhich is a cost-effective system for international registration of trademarks, enables nationals of its member countries to obtain trademark registration within 18 months by filing a single application with one fee and one language in their country of origin. This in turn is transmitted to other designated countries.
3-year 6-semester full-time residential LL.B. (Hons) in Intellectual Property Law (Approved by Bar Council of India)
Eligibility: First class bachelor's degree in engineering/technology/medicine or equivalent or first class master's degree in science or pharmacy or equivalent, or first class MBA degree with any of the above
The World Intellectual Property Organization is meeting this week with considerable momentum toward work on a Treaty for the Blind that would establish important copyright limitations and exceptions to ensure broader access for the sight disabled. The main aim of the treaty in question is to facilitate the cross-border sharing of special format materials made for persons with print disabilities regardless of whether these formats are made under the national law or under licensing agreements. Now the U.S. had emerged as a leader with surprising in approach. U.S. support for the treaty will dramatically increase the amount of special format material accessible to the people of the world. This is a 'surprising' turn of events because earlier this year it was reported that the U.S. was planning to block the Treaty. India was engaged in a 'thoughtful deliberation' over a statutory exception for the print disabled in its own national laws. This is a clear recognition of the efforts put in by the good people heading the 'Right to Read' & 'Book Bole' Inclusive Planet Centre for Internet and Society
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday crossed a new milestone in its march to make its proceedings transparent, easier and faster for litigants with the inauguration of the first e-court. As it was already published on IPLex , Fancynew, and E-Courts Blogs regarding the E-Courts in Indian Perspective and its launching schedule. Justice S. Ravindra Bhat inaugurated it. It was a civil court and of the total number of cases listed for hearing for the day, 15 were disposed of in the very first hour. However, lawyers appearing before court had to function manually as the facility was not available to them on the inaugural day. However, as per the project for making the courts of the High Court paperless, they will get connected to the network very soon.
The key feature of the e-court is the ability of lawyers to make paperless digitised submissions, including submissions where references can be hyperlinked to help the judge (or any other reader) instantly access further information on a given matter. The lawyers will have the facility to view the proceedings on their laptops when they are connected to the network.
The courtroom now sports a screen, which as yet only passively displays the causelist. But perhaps as time goes by, one may be able to see what exactly the judge can see as well, in order to have the lawyers and the judge - literally - on the same page. Justice Bhat sat with a laptop with a huge electronic screen on the wall in front of him. The screen had been put up in such a way as to allow the lawyers and the Judge to see the cause list at the same time. The Court Master also had a laptop with him to keep him abreast of the proceedings.According to go the project, the High Court will become paperless with digitisation of all works from filing of cases to delivery of judgments within two years.
According to the The Hindu 15 matters were heard in a matter of just one hour with no paper or files being exchanged. One thing to be careful about is the discomfort caused by staring at the computer screen constantly - the judges may need some extra tips on how to avoid that crick in the neck!
For those of you who want to read more take a look at the e-court presentation that the High Court has put up on its website here.
The E-court committee of Delhi High Court headed by Justice B.D.Ahmad is also considering the possibility of setting up a web portal for broadcasting proceedings of cases that may involve larger public interest.
The court of Justice S Ravindra Bhat looked unlike any other courtroom, with a sleek, wide LCDscreen on the wall and a touchscreen handbook replacing the bulky files as the HC launched its first eco-friendly initiative to go paperless and also bring about speedy justice.
Cumbersome paperwork has been replaced by digitalized files and judges can directly access them on a display monitor. With a target of digitalizing all documents within two years, the court has launched a pilot project which went on smoothly on the first day.
Though 33 matters were listed for the day, around 18 cases were disposed of within the first two hours, which on a routine basis take the entire day. The judge used his special LCD touchscreen to make corrections and his digital signature to certify the copy.
The lawyers gave the concept a thumbs-up, saying there were no glitches during the proceedings. ''We will be able to get rid of our bulky files. Now we have to carry only a USBdevice or CD of our case, which is much easier,'' said Swagat Sharma, a lawyer who appeared in the e-court. Some counsel, however, still preferred to use their paper files, an option given to them for the time being to enable them to adjust to accessing case files from their laptops.
In the next two years, the Court will also create the facility for filing of cases through Internet which will eliminate use of paper in presentation of plaint or petition or appeal and its disposal. All the pleadings, evidence, orders and judgments will be documented and archived on digital media.
The court has already digitalized around 5.5 crore papers pertaining to various cases upto 2007. It is also considering recording the statement of witnesses through video-conferencing to avoid procedural delays.
Since e-filing will require digital authentication of affidavits, vakalatnamas, paper documents with physical
signatures through suitable biometric devices and online payment of court fees, the Court will also require the help of
the Delhi Government for providing e-stamps.Accredited agencies will assist the lawyers to get their filing papers
digitalised on payment of fees, and the rules will also be amended to facilitate it.
Source: The Hindu, 17th December, 2009,The Times of India, 17th December 2009
