[COVID-19 Lockdown] Guidelines notified for E-filing, hearing of urgent cases through Vidyo App by Manipur HC and subordinate courts

The Manipur High Court recently notified guidelines to regulate the procedure for moving urgent cases to be taken up during the COVID-19 lockdown through video conferencing. .These guidelines were issued following the Supreme Court's recent directives on the issue in the case titled In re Guidelines for Court functioning through video conferencing during COVID-19 Pandemic..[Functioning of Courts via Video-Conference] High Courts to use own modalities for hearings during lockdown, "Technology here to stay", SC.The procedure outlined in this regard by the Manipur High Court, as per a notification issued on April 8, is as follows:.Urgent cases shall be heard using video conferencing;Requests for urgent hearing, stating the nature of urgency in brief (not exceeding 1 page) are to be made by the counsel/party-in-person to the Registry by email: hcmefiling@gmail.com (WhatsApp number: 9612487187);No more than one request will be entertained in one email. Multiple requests in one email will not be accepted;Complete details of the counsel/party-in-person, including name, address, ID proof, contact number etc. shall be mentioned in the urgent application;In matters involving the State Government, a copy of the urgent application should also be addressed to (I) email: pphighcourtga@gmal.com (ii) mobile/WhatsApp number: 9863045561;In matters involving the Union Government, a copy of the urgent application should also be addressed to (I) email: sureshsarangthem@yahoo.com and (ii)mobile/WhatsApp number: 7005924747;The counsel/party-in-person will be informed abut the decision taken on the urgent request through the same e-mail used for communication;If permission is granted, the counsel/party-in-person will send a copy of the petition, application etc. to the Registry vide email i.e. hcmefiling@gmail.com. A copy should also be sent to the email of the concerned government (if applicable) by email in the IDs mentioned above;Further correspondence regarding the case number, date and time of hearing will be intimated through email;The counsel/party-in-person should make an undertaking that he will pay the necessary court fee and other requisite charges applicable once the Court resumes normal functioning..Further, the notification intimates that the video conference hearings will be conducted through the Vidyo app, for which purpose the concerned counsel or party in person is required to download the same on their electronic device. This app is presently being used by the Supreme Court of India as well. .Coronavirus: Supreme Court notifies modalities for hearing matters of "extreme urgency" through video conferencing app "Vidyo".The High Court has also cautioned that the submissions made during the video conference hearings should be brief and that the parties should not interrupt the others..Moreover, parties have been urged to cut down their pleadings, petitions etc. to 10-15 pages, as far as practicable, to ensure that the same is easily uploaded or downloaded. Only relevant and important annexures are to be filed to reduce the volume of the documents. The parties may have to file the complete hard copies of the documents later on..Lower court judges have also been asked to act towards holding video conference hearings on these guidelines. Further, the notification has detailed the manner in which the Vidyo app is to be downloaded and used for video conference hearings..[Read the Notification]