Pune: Now, get court hearing dates through SMS

The service is on the lines of a similar facility offered by the Supreme Court and High Courts of the country.

The Pune District Court has now started to send out messages to lawyers and litigants informing them about the dates of the hearings and status of their legal cases. Currently, as many as 4,400 lawyers practicing at the Pune District and Sessions Court have registered for the service and also started to receive the messages. The service is on the lines of a similar facility offered by the Supreme Court and High Courts of the country.

In 2006, the Ministry of Law and Justice had formed an e-Court committee which had recommended the creation of an SMS service through which each party and lawyer would be informed about their upcoming case and its status. This was aimed at saving litigants’ time and the cost in travelling, and reducing crowds in courts as well.

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Since the service became operational recently, 1,500 court complexes from 3,838 courts in 648 districts across India have implemented it, and 1,242 complexes will start the service soon as the lease line connection is made available. Only 214 complexes are left to start the service.

“This service saves time and energy of both the lawyers and litigants. The parties will be well informed about the case status even if we do not attend hearings. We receive innumerable calls from the litigants or their relatives inquiring about the dates of hearings. Lawyers can now get the information sitting at home,” said advocate Bharati Jagade. To avail the benefits, a person has to register his or her mobile number with the court administration which would provide a code to be mentioned on the Vakalatnama. Once done, the administration would start sending out the SMS’ of the concerned case.

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