On green road: District courts asked to check paper wastage

A circular forwarded by District and Sessions Judge G P Mittal to all eight other judges-in-charge and judicial officers posted at the five district court complexes in the city specifies a font name,font size,margin space,spacing between texts and similar details related to printing of orders.

“All judicial officers are impressed upon to save paper used in their courts and direct their stenographers to type or prepare the orders and judgments in the format mentioned (in the note),” reads the circular,which will set a common standard for all judgments coming out of trial courts.

“The above mentioned format (should) be followed and complied with strictly,” the communication states.

The circular further states that whenever a Supreme Court or High Court judgment has to be cited,it has to be in single spaced typing.

The note also seeks to cut down the wastage of paper as a result of stenographers usually taking down the judges’ directions in shorthand first and later typing out the same to get printouts.

“All stenographers and ahlmads (record-keepers) are also directed to type the daily proceedings in running manner and not to use separate sheets for each proceedings and prepare cause lists with optimum use of paper as well,” it states.

The circular also has a specimen copy attached to show how judgments and the orders should be printed in future.

The Delhi High Court already has a functional “Weeding Cell”,where staffers sift through voluminous court records — some over 30 years old — to weed out waste paper from official files. The waste paper,which comes to almost two tonnes every week,is sent for recycling. The recycled paper is then sold to colleges,schools and other institutions.

Judicial records have a varied range of shelf life in the trial courts’ record rooms. While case files are preserved according to the type of cases,records are usually kept for a period of six to 12 years before they are destroyed.

While trial court staff members hailed the directive,a staff member told Newsline,“Attendance sheets running into over a thousand pages are sent every day to the High Court,even though another set of sheets are kept at the trial courts. A biometric attendance system at the lower courts in the lines of that at the High Court will help.”