Latest news with #NIAct
Time of India
4 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Local Court Lawyers Up In Arms Over Shifting Of 34 Digital Courts
New Delhi: Lawyers from the district courts decided on Saturday to roll back their decision to abstain from work in protest against the shifting of the judges of the 34 digital Negotiable Instruments Act courts to the Rouse Avenue courts. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now A statement released by the All District Courts Bar Association of Delhi on Saturday said that the lawyers' coordination committee met the chief justice of and was assured that all digital courts would function strictly as digital platforms only. The remaining proceedings and judicial work only would be conducted in the regular local courts, the statement said. "Necessary directions are being issued to all presiding officers instructing them not to insist on the physical appearance of any stakeholders, including parties, counsel, police officers, etc, in c+ourt," the statement added. On May 30, high court chief justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya inaugurated the 34 digital courts at the Rouse Avenue Courts complex to hear cases under the NI Act. Only judges of these courts will operate from Rouse Avenue, while the staff —readers, ahlmads and stenographers — will operate from their respective districts. The association on Friday, June 6 decided to abstain from work opposing the decision of shiftingthecourts. The digital courts deal with cases related to cheque bounces across six court complexes. The Lok Sabha was informed by the Union law minister in Dec 2024 that Delhi ranked fourth among top five Indian states with regard to NI Act cases and has 4.5 lakh pending cases. A judge in a NI Act court, on average, holds 80 hearings every day. According to the National Judicial Data Grid, until June 7, there were 15.1 lakh cases, of which 31% were cheque bounce cases. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Last year, advocate Jagriti Jain filed a public interest litigation, highlighting administrative lapses in the digital NI Act court in North district. The petition pointed out the huge pendency of cases as well as connectivity problems of the portal used for digital hearings. In April 2024, a division bench comprising then acting chief justice Manmohan and justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora directed steps to be taken to address the issue of digital connectivity and network problems. On May 22 this year, the bench disposed of the Jain's PIL, noting that connectivity issues had been resolved after the registrar general of the high court submitted a report on May 9 outlining the remedial measures taken. A second digital NI Act court was established in the North district and all pending matters were evenly distributed between the two courts. Advocate Parthesh Bhardwaj, who appeared for Jain, told TOI, "As of June, with multiple functioning courts, better cause list management and strengthened technical infrastructure, the average time between hearings at digital NI Act courts in all districts has significantly reduced."
United News of India
5 days ago
- Politics
- United News of India
Delhi's district court lawyers to abstain from work on June 9
New Delhi, June 9 (UNI) The lawyers practising in district courts in Delhi have decided to abstain from work on June 9 against the shifting of the Digital Negotiable Instrument Act Courts to the Rouse Avenue court complex. Nagender Kumar, Chairman, Coordination Committee, All District Court Bar Association of Delhi, has passed a resolution that in an emergent meeting, the Co-ordination committee has taken serious note of unrest among advocates against the shifting of the Digital Courts to Rouse Avenue Court and it has been resolved to register strong grievance/resentment against the same. Accordingly, it has been unanimously decided to abstain from judicial work in all District Courts on Monday i.e. 09.06.2025, Vikas Goyal Adv, Hony Secretary Delhi Bar Association and General Secretary of the Coordination Committee of Delhi District Courts has requested the advocates by sending messages to completely abstain from work on Monday i.e June 9 in all District Courts of Delhi. Delhi High Court's Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya has inaugurated the 34 digital court at the Rouse Avenue Complex last week to exclusively hear cases under the NI Act. UNI XC SSP
Indian Express
5 days ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
34 digital courts shifted: Delhi's lower court lawyers to abstain from work on Monday
Lawyers across Delhi's lower courts have decided to abstain from work on Monday following a decision to shift judges of 34 digital NI Act (Negotiable Instruments Act) courtrooms — which hear cheque bounce cases — across six court complexes in the capital to the Rouse Avenue court complex. Court staff (readers, ahlmads and stenographers) will continue to operate from their respective districts. 'In an emergent meeting, the Co-ordination Committee has taken serious note of unrest amongst advocates against the shifting of digital courts to Rouse Avenue Court, and it has been resolved to register strong grievance/resentment against the same. Accordingly, it is unanimously decided to abstain from judicial work in all district courts on Monday i.e., 09.06.2025, in protest…,' read a circular issued by the Coordination Committee (of all lower Courts) dated June 6. Advocate Dhir Singh Kasana, former Saket Bar Association Secretary, said: 'When we have sufficient courtrooms in Saket, why are our Courts being shifted… We are being told only judges have been moved to Rouse Avenue Court, but a circular outside a courtroom states that all matters will be physically taken up at Rouse Avenue.' Of the 34 courtrooms, 9 are from Dwarka, 7 from Tis Hazari, 6 from Saket, 5 from Karkardooma Court, 4 from Rohini, and 3 from Patiala House Court. On Friday, Delhi High Court Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya inaugurated the 34 digital courts at the Rouse Avenue complex to exclusively hear cases under the NI Act. An administrative order passed by Principal District and Sessions Judge and Special Judge Kanwal Jeet Arora of Rouse Avenue Court read: 'The following judicial officers shall occupy and hold their courts in court room numbers mentioned against their names with immediate effect.' 'As per the directives of the Hon'ble High Court of Delhi, New Delhi, vide notification… dated 30.05.2025, the courts shall continue to be under the administrative control/supervision/ jurisdiction of the districts concerned to which these courts belong,' the order dated May 31 stated. This essentially means that while the court staff will operate from their respective districts, all judges will have to sit in Rouse Avenue Court. All rooms have been allotted on the seventh floor of the court complex, which is situated near the ITO Metro in Central Delhi. In a May 30 notification, the HC cited 'optimal utilisation of available infrastructure and resources' and 'inadequate space' to justify the move. 'The remaining arrangement, including support staff deployment and recording of evidence from the respective District Court Complexes, shall continue as per the previous directions/practice until adequate and permanent space is made available in the District Courts concerned to which these Digital NI Act Courts ultimately belong,' the notification read. 'However, these Courts shall continue to be under the administrative control /supervision/ jurisdiction of the districts concerned to which these courts belong. The readers, ahlmads, and judicial records of these Digital NI Act Courts would also continue to function from their original districts so as to avoid any inconvenience to the litigants, lawyers, and stakeholders,' it added.
India Gazette
5 days ago
- Politics
- India Gazette
Delhi district court lawyers to abstain from work on June 9 in protest against relocation of Digital NI Act courts
New Delhi [India], June 6 (ANI): The Coordination Committee of All District Courts Bar Associations of Delhi has unanimously decided that advocates will completely refrain from judicial work on Monday, June 09, 2025, in all district courts of Delhi. 'All the members are therefore requested to kindly cooperate and abstain from judicial work, stated the press statement issued by the Advocate Tarun Rana, Honorary Secretary of New Delhi Bar Association. This decision is in protest against the relocation of Digital NI Act Courts to Rouse Avenue Court, expressing strong discontent and firm opposition to the move, the statement read. Recently, Delhi High Court Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya inaugurated 34 digital courts at the Rouse Avenue District Courts complex, dedicated exclusively to handling cases under the Negotiable Instruments Act in the national capital. Praising the infrastructure and technological advancements, Justice Upadhyaya emphasised the importance of judicial officers working for the people's cause, calling the initiative 'laudable.' He urged judges to exercise their jurisdiction with a sense of duty rather than being 'power-charged.' The 34 digital NI Act courtrooms, which specialise in cheque bounce cases, have been relocated from six court complexes across Delhi to the Rouse Avenue court complex. Among them, nine were shifted from Dwarka, seven from Tis Hazari, six from Saket, five from Karkardooma, four from Rohini, and three from Patiala House Court. (ANI)
Indian Express
7 days ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
34 digital cheque bounce courts in Delhi move to Rouse Avenue complex, minus staff
The judges of 34 digital NI Act (Negotiable Instruments Act) courtrooms, which hear cheque bounce cases, across six court complexes in Delhi have been shifted to the Rouse Avenue court complex. However, the court staff (readers, ahlmads and stenographers) will continue to operate from their respective districts. Of the 34 courtrooms, nine are from Dwarka, seven from Tis Hazari, six from Saket, five from Karkardooma Court, four from Rohini, and three from Patiala House Court. On Friday, Delhi High Court Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya inaugurated the 34 digital courts at the Rouse Avenue complex to exclusively hear cases under the NI Act. An administrative order passed by Principal District and Sessions Judge and Special Judge Kanwal Jeet Arora of Rouse Avenue Court read: 'The following judicial officers shall occupy and hold their courts in court room numbers mentioned against their names with immediate effect.' 'As per the directives of the Hon'ble High Court of Delhi, New Delhi, vide notification… dated 30.05.2025, the courts shall continue to be under the administrative control/supervision/ jurisdiction of the districts concerned to which these courts belong,' the order dated May 31 stated. This essentially means that while the court staff will operate from their respective districts, all judges will have to sit in Rouse Avenue Court. All rooms have been allotted on the seventh floor of the court complex, which is situated near the ITO Metro in Central Delhi. In a May 30 notification, the Delhi High Court cited 'optimal utilisation of available infrastructure and resources' and 'inadequate space' to justify the move. 'The remaining arrangement, including support staff deployment and recording of evidence from the respective District Court Complexes, shall continue as per the previous directions/practice until adequate and permanent space is made available in the concerned District Courts to which these Digital NI Act Courts ultimately belong,' the notification read. 'However, these Courts shall continue to be under the administrative control/supervision/jurisdiction of the concerned districts to which these courts belong. The readers, ahlmads, and judicial records of these Digital NI Act Courts would also continue to function from their original districts so as to avoid any inconvenience to the litigants, lawyers, and stakeholders,' it added. 'We are being told that only judges have been moved to Rouse Avenue Court, but a circular outside a courtroom states that all matters will be physically taken up at Rouse Avenue,' Dhir Singh Kasana, advocate and former Saket Bar Association secretary, told The Indian Express. 'If lawyers situated in Saket have to travel to Rouse Avenue, it will cause a big problem… There should be some clarity. There are no chambers in Rouse, while we have those in Saket. There was no space crunch in Saket Court…these courtrooms already existed in our district,' said Kasana. At court complexes across Delhi, 800 judges are hearing close to 15 lakh pending cases (2 lakh civil and 13 lakh criminal). Of these, 4.5 lakh or over 30 per cent are cases related to cheque bounce claims. On any given day, NI Act courts hear a minimum of 50 cases and a maximum of 200 cases, and have six times the average pendency of other courts. As per the Act, cheque bounce cases ought to be disposed of within six months. The staff in the NI Act courts are among the most burdened across Delhi's judiciary. 'Twice a month, we might have to travel to Rouse. In case a judge asks for a document or case file, we might have to physically deliver it,' a court staff member told The Indian Express.
