Gandhinagar, Sep 28 (IANS) Litigants in Gujarat may soon get refunds of securities and other deposits in courts through direct electronic transfer to their bank accounts, if the Gujarat High Court accepts a suggestion.
The proposal for considering electronic transfer of funds by courts was mooted by a division bench of the high court. The bench comprising Justices Jayant Patel and Abhilasha Kumari referred the matter to Chief Justice S.J. Mukhopadhaya.
The bench headed by the chief justice has initiated suo motu proceedings in this regard following the observations of Justice Patel and Justice Abhilasha Kumari.
The division bench referred the matter to the chief justice, seeking an appropriate bench to decide the feasibility of adopting the system of electronic fund transfers to the claimants’ accounts from all courts of the state.
The bench observed that it would save a lot of time, energy, cost and manpower at every level.
‘We prima facie find that it would be just and proper to issue directions in exercise of powers under Article 227 of the constitution to all courts in the state generally and to the district courts in particular,’ said the division bench of Justice Patel and Justice Abhilasha Kumari.
‘It appears to us that such practice can be adopted at every level in all courts and it can, for the sake of convenience, if approved, be made use of at the high court level also,’ the bench said.
‘We find that it is a matter pertaining to all courts in the state, it would be just and proper if the present matter and the observations made by us are placed before the chief justice,’ Justice Patel said.
He observed that the process of withdrawal of the amount from the court consumed a lot of time of the court’s administrative staff and it also resulted in expenditure on the part of the person who may be entitled for withdrawal of the amount.
The court indicated in its observation that such transfers were subject to proper verification and genuineness of the bank account of the person concerned.
