Read this law student’s suggestion to CJI Dattu to make the SC more environmentally friendly (and its files lighter)

Aman Saxena, a second year student at NLSIU Bangalore, has made a simple suggestion to the current Chief Justice of India, HL Dattu with regard to filings in the Supreme Court..In his two-page letter addressed to the CJI, Saxena has suggested that filings before the Supreme Court should be printed on both sides..If implemented, this would lead to a massive reduction in the paper used, as well as the space occupied by the paper books..Saxena, who interned at the apex court for a month, says that he was shocked to see the utter wastage of paper through single-side printing. This prompted him to find out the amount of paper used with the help of the Supreme Court website and a court clerk. He even filed an RTI application to ascertain the exact number of pages that are used on a daily basis, but is yet to get a reply. Nonetheless, the approximate figures that Saxena arrived at are certainly cause for concern..“There were more than twenty five thousand Special Leave Petitions filed in the Supreme Court in 2014. On top of that, there are, in all, more than 10,000 Transfer Petitions, Writ Petitions, applications for Bail… as the Supreme Court has to be apprised of the proceedings in the lower courts, every such matter runs to at least a hundred pages in length while some run to a thousand or more pages culminating into three to ten volumes.”.In this backdrop, switching to double-sided printing would certainly be a positive move. However, this may require an amendment of the rules..Under the existing Supreme Court Rules of 2013, Order XV clearly states that petitions are to be filed on “one side of A4 paper.”.Now, Saxena has suggested that the phrase ‘one-side’ be interpreted as ‘every side’, which would mean that an amendment of the Rules itself would not be required. However, if an amendment is the only way forward, then this too should be considered by Chief Justice Dattu..Saxena says that his next move is to try and get the Supreme Court Bar Association to also raise this proposal, and bring it to the Bench’s notice. In fact, given recent trends, the chances of this law student’s idea actually being implemented are quite high. The Supreme Court recently discontinued the practice of printing cause lists, in an endeavour to be more eco-friendly..And it is not just the Supreme Court that Saxena plans to write to. Speaking to Bar & Bench, Saxena says,.“As you may be aware, there were changes made in the filing process in the Patna High Court. Clearly, the High Courts are empowered to introduce changes in the filing process.”.Saxena has plans to reach out to High Courts across the country, through both the Bar as well as the Bench. And if the Supreme Court does acede to this request, it will certainly be a lot easier to implement in other courts as well..The letter concludes,.“Hopefully, by then, they will have a precedent to follow from none other than the Supreme Court itself.