Ahmedabad: The Gujarat High Court has kept in abeyance till January 31, 2026, the implementation of its circular mandating the use of A4-size paper with double-sided printing for all filings in the district judiciary.

The stay puts on hold a December 22, 2025 circular by the court that came into force on January 1, 2026, but witnesses an opposition. The directive required all pleadings, petitions, affidavits, applications, memoranda of appeals, and even orders and judgments of district courts to be filed on A4 paper printed on both sides, a move aimed at reducing paperwork and paper consumption.

Under the deferred norms, legal practitioners and court staff would have had to use superior-quality A4 paper (minimum 75 GSM) with prescribed margins (4 cm on the left and right; 2 cm on the top and bottom) and 1.5 line spacing. The circular also standardised typography: Lohit Gujarati, Noto Sans Gujarati, or Noto Serif Gujarati (font size 13) for Gujarati filings and Times New Roman (font size 14) for English, with quotations at font size 12. The shift to Unicode fonts was intended to ease digital record management and searchability.

However, advocates flagged practical hurdles. Many said they had already incurred costs printing vakalatnamas and stocking stationery under the old system, while others pointed to limited awareness of and access to the required font software, warning of disruptions to routine filings if the rule took immediate effect. Senior members of the Bar urged that subordinate courts be given adequate transition time to avoid stalling ongoing cases.

Speaking on the issue, advocate Nitin Gandhi said, “Advocates usually get vakalatnamas printed in bulk once a year and also stock up on stationery. With the implementation of this rule in such a manner, the additional stationery costs will have to be borne by the advocates themselves. Moreover, many advocates are still not familiar with the required software, which is causing difficulties in filing cases and in the overall court process.”

In his communication, the Registrar General directed principal judges and judicial heads across Ahmedabad and the state to inform all judicial officers and stakeholders about the deferment for necessary compliance. The High Court is expected to review the rollout after the abeyance period ends. DeshGujarat