Aastha Thakur
Published on: October 12, 2022 at 18:50 IST
The Delhi High Court recently sanctioned the use of A4 size paper with double-sided printing for all kinds of court proceedings in the form of petitions, affidavits, applications, or other documents, as well as all memorandums of appeals, orders, and judgements in the HC and all district courts of Delhi.
The Registrar General of the Delhi High Court released the directions to bring this into practice, and it is enforceable in all Delhi-situated judicial authorities from November 1, 2022.
The notification, dated October 10, 2022, read:
“A4 size paper be used uniformly in all jurisdictions for all kinds of pleadings contained in petitions, affidavits, applications or other documents etc, and all memorandum of appeals, orders and judgments in the High Court as well as in all District Courts of Delhi. The A4 size paper to be used as above shall confirm to the following specification of paper and formatting style:-
A4 size paper (29.7 cm X 21 cm) having not less than 75 GSM with font – Times New Roman, font size 14, in 1.5 line spacing (for quotations and indents – font size 12 in single line spacing), with margin of 4 cm on left & right and 2 cm on top & bottom.
The printing/typing shall be on both sides of the paper.”
“These Practice Directions shall come into force w.e.f. 01.11.2022,” the notification read.
The High Court earlier this year sent its recommendation to the Centre and the Ministry of Law and Justice to consider the use of both sides of A4-sized paper, for all application filings and pleading arguments before high courts in India.
The Bench, comprising of Acting Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Navin Chawla, in one of the matters, gave orders to use A4-sized paper for all sorts of court proceedings in the High Courts and District Courts. The petitioner here gave suggestions that both sides of the A4-sized paper be used. This has never been considered by the Court before this.
The Petitioner submits that it is the duty of the Ministry of Law and Justice, which needs to implement such directions across all High Courts and District Courts in India. The division bench hereby asks the Ministry to consider the likelihood of bringing such guidelines to minimise the consumption of paper and, consequently, to save the environment.
The Petitioner submitted that while the Delhi High Court would have jurisdiction to prescribe the usage of both sides of A4 size paper to all District Courts in Delhi, for such a guideline to be implemented across all High Courts in India, the Ministry of Law and Justice would have jurisdiction to prescribe the same.
Thus, the division bench directed the Union of India and the Ministry of Law and Justice to consider the possibility of enacting such guidelines to reduce paper consumption and, as a result, save the environment.