(Updated in 2022) (As amended by K. G. No. 44 dt. 01/11/2022 - Amendments in Rule 2(1)(fa), Rule 3(7) and Rule 4(1) K. G. No. 40 dt. 04/10/2022 - Amendments in R.2, R.3, R.4, R.8, R.13 and R.16A) (Published under Notification No. DI-1/20613/2018 (1) Dated: 12/05/2021 of the High Court of Kerala) In exercise of the powers conferred under Article 225 and Article 227 of the Constitution of India and all other powers enabling it in this behalf and after obtaining previous approval of the Governor of Kerala conveyed in G.O. (Rt) No. 1350/2021/Home, dated 7th May, 2021, the High Court of Kerala hereby makes the following Rules, namely ELECTRONIC FILING RULES FOR COURTS (KERALA), 2021

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S.1 Short Title, Commencement and Applicability.--

(1) These Rules shall be called the Electronic Filing Rules for Courts (Kerala), 2021.

(2) They shall come into force on the date notified by the High Court.

(3) These Rules shall apply to the High Court and Subordinate Courts over which the High Court exercises supervisory jurisdiction.

(4) These Rules shall also apply to Tribunals which shall be notified by the High Court from time to time.

(5) These Rules shall apply to online Electronic Filing System, Designated Counters and facilities provided for Electronic Filing through Electronic Service Centres.

(6) These Rules shall apply to such category of cases as are notified by the High Court in its website, or in such other manner, from time to time. 

S.2 Definitions.--

¹[(1)] In the construction of these rules the following terms (unless the context or subject-matter otherwise requires) shall have the respective meanings hereinafter assigned to them:

  (a) "Advocate" means an advocate entered in any roll under the provisions of the Advocates Act, 1961 (Act 25 of 1961) and shall also include Government Pleaders/Advocates and officers of the prosecuting agencies ²[who are competent to represent as an Advocate under section 30 of the Advocates Act, 1961 (Central Act 25 of 1961)].

  (b) "Action" includes all proceedings instituted in the Courts such as suits, criminal complaints, appeals, revision petitions, writ petitions, writ appeals, contempt petitions, execution petitions, arbitration proceedings, probate cases, caveats, bail applications and interlocutory applications.

  (c) "Administrator" means the Registrar (Recruitment & Computerisation) or an officer aut

S.3 General Instructions.--

(1) Online electronic filing shall be made in the High Court by visiting the web portal of the High Court or that is assigned specifically for electronic filing by the Chief Justice.

(2) Online electronic filing shall be made in the Subordinate Courts or Tribunals by visiting the web portal of the respective courts or that is assigned specifically for electronic filing by the High Court.

(3) Except as provided elsewhere in these Rules, all Actions whether in fresh, pending and disposed of cases, shall be filed electronically by the E-Filer in the manner provided in these Rules.

(4) Any person who is unable to access the Electronic Filing portal would be entitled to make use of the facilities provided at the Designated Counters on payment of charges, if stipulated.

(5) The size of the electronic file ¹[as far as the Subordinate courts and Tribunals are concerned] shall not exceed 100 MB. In case the electronic file size exceeds 100 MB, the E-Fi

S.4 Registration and Responsibilities of E-Filer.--

(1) ¹[All Advocates or Party-in-Person or a Partnership Firm or its Partners/Law Firm or its ³[members]] who have not registered on the Court Electronic Filing web portal shall register themselves in the Court Electronic Filing Web Portal. The procedure for registration will be published in the website of the Court.

(2) The Registry shall allot a user account, if the registration done under sub-rule (1) is in proper order.

(3) The E-Filer's username and password shall constitute the E-Filer's electronic identity and the user account for the purpose of these Rules.

(4) The E-Filer shall maintain a valid and working Electronic Mail (e-mail) address and mobile number to facilitate the receiving of Electronic Mail notifications or Short Messaging Service (SMS) from the Electronic Filing System. The Registry shall not be responsible if an E-Filer does not receive notifications from the Electronic Filing System through his Electronic Mail or SMS.

S.5 General Procedure.--

(1) Whenever an E-Filer intends to file a pleading the same shall be prepared electronically using any word processing software following the format as mentioned below.
  (a) Paper Size: The pleadings shall be prepared on A-4 paper
 
  (b) Font and Font Size: The font of the letters shall be Times New Roman and the typeface shall be 14 point.
 
  (c) Line Spacing: All text shall be of 1.5 line spaced.
 
  (d) Alignment: All the documents shall be aligned with justified alignment.
 
  (e) Margins :  Top Margin  - 1.5"
     Bottom Margin  - 1.5"
     Left Margin  -  1.75"
     Right Margin  - 1.0"

(2) A document which is to be typed in the local language of the Court shall be typed using UNICODE Font 12.

(3) All pleadings an

S.6 Digital Signature.--

(1) A document electronically filed using the Electronic Filing System shall bear the digital signature of the Advocate or the Party-in-Person. The digital signature shall be affixed on such places as are mandated under the relevant Acts and Rules.

(2) An Advocate or a Party-in-Person who does not possess the digital signature as issued by the competent authority, can authenticate electronically filed pleadings and documents by Electronic Signature [e-signature] based on Adhaar authentication using his Adhaar number and the OTP sent to the registered number of the Advocate or Party-in-Person. Such an authentication shall be considered as a valid identification for all intents and purposes.

(3) An Advocate or a Party-in-Person who does not possess a Digital Signature and Electronic Signature [e-signature] can authenticate electronically filed documents by electronic verification using his Electronic Mail Address (e-mail) or mobile phone number based OTP authentication.<

S.7 Payment of Court Fees.--

(1) Court fees and other charges payable under the relevant Acts and Rules shall be made through Electronic Payment [e-payment] in the manner and mode as notified by the High Court from time to time and the notification shall also be available in the web portal of the relevant courts. 

S.8 Production of Documents.--

(1) Notwithstanding electronic filing of documents, all documents shall be produced in original unless the Court otherwise directs or production of it in electronic form is permissible in accordance with the provision of law for the time being in force.

(2) Vakalaths, Affidavits or any such document required to be signed, executed, attested and/or authenticated by one or more parties shall be filed in electronic form signed and authenticated as per the provision under the Information Technology Act, 2000 (Central Act 21 of 2000).

(3) The responsibility for producing the originals of the documents shall be on the party or opposite party or Party-in-Person who has furnished the same in original or as scanned copies for instituting the action or filing objection.]

S.9 Access to Electronic Data of the Action.--

(1) The access to the pleadings and the documents filed electronically in an Action will be provided only to the Advocates for the parties or to the concerned Party-in-Person.

(2) The Advocate for the parties or the Party-in-Person shall be entitled to obtain certified copies of the pleadings and documents filed electronically, in accordance with the relevant rules for grant of certified copies.

(3) A stranger to the Action is entitled to obtain the certified copy of the pleadings and documents filed in the Action in accordance with the relevant rules.

S.10 Exemption from Electronic Filing.--

The Court for reasons to be recorded in writing may on an application filed by an Advocate or Party-in-Person exempt him from online electronic filing of the entire pleadings or part of the pleadings and/or documents in any of the circumstances mentioned herein:

  (i) where online electronic filing is for reasons stated in the application not feasible; or
  
  (ii) where there are concerns about confidentiality and protection of privacy; or

  (iii) where the document cannot be scanned or filed electronically because of its size, shape or condition; or
 
  (iv) where the online electronic filing web portal is either inaccessible or not available for any reason; and/or

  (v) where there are just and sufficient cause.

S.11 Service through Electronic Means.--

(1) The Court may serve the pleadings and documents that are electronically filed to the user account of the E-Filer through the designated electronic file system user account of the Registry or to his electronic mail account or through electronic post [e-post] or through any other electronic mode as prescribed by the Court. The same shall be in addition to the prescribed mode of service as per the relevant Acts and Rules.

(2) The Court may serve the notices, pleadings and documents that are electronically filed to the opposite party through the designated electronic file system user account of the Registry or to his electronic mail account, if any, or through electronic post [e-post] or through any other electronic mode as prescribed by the Court. The same shall be in addition to the prescribed mode of service as per the relevant Acts and Rules.

S.12 Proof of Electronic Filing.--

The proof of Electronic Filing of an Action shall be informed to the E-Filer on his registered electronic mail address, mobile phone number, E-Filer user account or through any other electronic mode as prescribed by the Court.

S.13 Computation of Limitation.--

(1) Wherever Limitation under the Limitation Act, 1963 (Act 36 of 1963) or under any other law for the time being in force applies to an Action, it shall be the responsibility of the E-Filer to electronically file the Action before the prescribed period of Limitation.

(2) The date of Electronic Filing for computation of the period of limitation shall be taken as the date when the Action is electronically received in the Registry within the time [Indian Standard Time] prescribed under the relevant Act/Rules and orders issued from time to time.

¹[Provided that if the E-Filer satisfies that there is deemed institution within the time prescribed as per this sub-rule, the date of deemed institution shall be reckoned as the date of Electronic Filing for the purposes of this rule:

Provided further that in case of technical failure, a notification regarding the exact time when the technical failure has occurred shall be notified on the website of the Court co

S.14 Hard Copies of Pleadings and Documents Electronically Filed.--

(1) The Advocates and Party-in-Person can take hard copies of the pleadings and documents filed electronically for their use in the Court.

(2) The Registry of the Court shall take hard copies of the pleadings and documents meant for the use of the Court or for other official purposes.

S.15 Storage and Retrieval of Electronically filed Pleadings and Documents.--

(1) The Electronically filed pleadings and documents shall be stored on an exclusive server which shall be under the control and supervision of the Courts.

(2) The Registry shall separately label and encrypt each Action for facilitating their identification and retrieval.

(3) The security of the Actions shall be ensured by the Courts and access to them shall be in the manner provided in the Rules subject to changes decided by the Courts from time to time.

(4) The Courts shall take all necessary steps to ensure that a backup copy of all Actions is preserved in the manner as decided by the High Court from time to time.

S.16 Powers of High Court.--

(1) When the High Court is satisfied that the operation of any Rule causes undue hardship, it may order to dispense with or relax the requirements of that Rule to such extent and subject to such conditions, if any, as is necessary to deal with the case in a just and equitable manner.

(2) The High Court may also from time to time issue practice directions under these Rules and the said directions shall be effective from the dates as may be notified.

S.17 General Powers of the Courts.--

These rules shall not affect the powers of the Court from permitting conventional filing on grounds of total inability to electronically file through the Electronic Filing web portal or the designated counter of the Court.]

S.18 Residuary Provision.--

(1) The Registry shall on scrutiny of the pleadings or documents filed, note the objections regarding the non-compliance with these Rules or Practice Directions or any other law for the time being in force.

(2) The Registry shall inform the E-Filer of the objections noted in his electronic mail address (e-mail) or through any other electronic mode.

(3) The objections noted by the Registry shall be cured by the E-Filer and the same shall be returned back to the Registry within the time provided.

(4) The pleadings or documents shall be posted before the Court only after the objections noted by the Registry are cured by the E-Filer.

(5) An E-Filer who has initiated an Action through Electronic Filing shall receive all copies of the pleadings or documents filed by the opposite party through his electronic mail address or electronic filing system user account or through any other electronic mode.

(6) The person who faces an action, instead of receiving