Criminal cases filed before Gujarat HC to be auto-listed from now on

Ahmedabad: With the objective of reducing the burden of pending cases and ensuring swift hearing of cases for their quick disposal and resolution, the Gujarat High Court has taken the important and unprecedented decision for auto-listing of criminal cases that are brought before the state’s apex court.

The decision for auto-listing of criminal cases was taken by chief justice Arvind Kumar and was officially announced on Tuesday by the High Court’s registrar. The biggest advantage of auto-listing is that the matter would reach the board within hours of filing the criminal case and the related judge will start hearing it, compared to the previous system in which lawyers and litigants had to wait for days on end for the hearing to begin.

The auto-listing of cases is currently being implemented as a pilot project. The new system will be in vogue for bail petitions, anticipatory bail petitions and quashing petitions. The matter will get auto-listed before a related judge on the very next day of a bail petition getting filed in the state’s apex court. Anticipatory bail pleas will get auto-listed before a related high court judge on the third day of filing of the case. Quashing petitions filed under CRPC’s Article 482 for cancellation of police complaints and special criminal applications too will get auto-listed before a related high court judge on the third day.

In the earlier system, any delay in the listing of the case would lead to a delay in the hearing of the case in the High Court. Therefore, this can be termed as a positive step taken towards simplifying and speeding up the dispensation of justice under the guidance of the chief justice. Lawyers will receive confirmation of their cases getting auto-listed by way of SMSs and email. DeshGujarat