Delhi HC issues mandatory Practice Directions for petitions under Article 227, Section 115 CPC

The Delhi High Court has issued practice directions for Civil Miscellaneous (Main) Petitions under Article 227 of the Constitution of India and Civil Revision Petitions under Section 115 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908..The practice directions have been issued by the High Court in the exercise of powers conferred by Section 7 of the Delhi High Court Act. They shall come into force with effect from December 15, 2019..All the officers and dealing assistants at the filing counter have been directed to ensure strict compliance of these direction. Petitions that do not comply with these directions shall not be listed by the Registry..Broadly, the practice directions are as follows:.Advance Service of Petition.For a Civil Miscellaneous (Main) Petition under Article 227 or Civil Revision Petition under Section 115 CPC that arises from an order in a pending proceeding before a Court subordinate to the High Court, an advance copy of the paper book shall be served upon each opposite party or their counsel (if any) who appeared last for such opposite party in the trial court.The requirement of service of advance copy of the paper book is dispensed with in respect of such opposite parties who have been proceeded against ex parte before the trial court.In the event the opposite party is the Central government, state government, statutory authority etc, an advance copy shall be served directly upon the nominated Senior/Standing/Empanelled Counsel and not upon the concerned opposite party.The petitioner shall intimate all opposite parties in the matter about the filing and the likely date of listing of the said petition by phone/SMS/email.The petition shall be accompanied with written proof of such intimation and their respective service.The advocate for the petitioner(s) shall give a written declaration indicating the total number of opposite parties, whether all the opposite parties have been served with the advance copy of the petition, and the mode of their service.Where advance service of the petition has been effected personally, the counsel for the petitioner shall ensure that their full names, enrolment numbers and mobile numbers, along with their email addresses, are recorded at the Index at the time of filing pleadings or documents.The counsel must also ensure that the acknowledgement of service of advance copies of the paper book is endorsed on the first or second page of the filing index. It is further mandated that the person acknowledging receipt of advance copies signs writes his name, the court clerk’s registration number (if received by court clerk) and his mobile number, as also the party for whom the acknowledgement is being given.It must also be ensured that the court clerks do not effect wrong/false acknowledgements of service in the original pleadings/documents index filed before the Court. Any court clerk who does so shall be liable for strict action..Service of petition other than by personal service.Service by UPC will not be accepted by the Registry as adequate proof of service.Service on the opposite counsel/party by registered post, speed post or courier service will be accepted by the Registry as adequate proof of service, effective three clear days after the last date of despatch.Service on the opposite counsel/party by e-mail shall also be accepted by the Registry as adequate proof of service if the petition is accompanied with an affidavit of the filing counsel/party to the effect that the e-mail address at which e-mail has been sent is that of the concerned party/counsel and that the e-mail has been delivered and has not bounced back. Such affidavit must also set out the date and time of the e-mail sent and the e-mail address at which it has been sent, along with the actual date when the fresh filing is to be listed..Details of mobile phone numbers and email of opposite parties.The petitioner shall mention in the memo of parties the name, mobile number and email address of each opposite party or their counsel.Where the name, mobile number and email address of each opposite party or their counsel is found mentioned in the memo of parties, the Registry shall enter the same in the data management system of the High Court so that auto-generated SMS /email are also sent to each opposite party or their counsel regarding the filing of the petition, its progress during scrutiny by the Registry, and its date of listing..Copies of pleadings, order sheets of Trial Court.The petitioner shall file the relevant pleadings of the original proceedings, relevant order sheets, issues if framed in the case, pleadings of relevant interim applications and documents which the petitioner intends to rely upon.If copies of the documents mentioned above are filed with self-certification of the counsel for the petitioner to the effect that each such document is the true copy of its respective original in the file of the trial court, the Registry shall not insist upon the petitioner filing certified copies of such documents.The Registry shall not list any such petition before the Court which is not accompanied with any of the documents mentioned above..Appearance on the first date of listing.Any opposite party who desires to oppose any of the prayers made in such petition or in any interim application accompanying such petition shall appear personally or through counsel to make submissions before the Court.In case any opposite party does not appear before the Court upon advance service of the petition, the Court may not issue any further notice to such opposite party and may pass any order(s) as it may deem fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case..No inherent right of any opposite party to file a reply to the petition.Where a Civil Miscellaneous (Main) Petition under Article 227 or Civil Revision Petition under Section 115 CPC is filed, ordinarily the same may be decided on the basis of the grounds raised in the petition and the record filed with the same.No opposite party as a matter of right shall be entitled to file a reply to such petition.The opposite party shall, however, during the course of hearing, be entitled to produce copies of any relevant record intended to be relied upon. In exceptional circumstances, the Court may permit an opposite party to file a reply to such a petition..Read the Practice Directions: