HC allows filing of petitions at dist court e-service centres

Agra: Allahabad high court (HC) in response to an RTI query stated that petitioners can now file petitions in person at e-service centres of district courts.
According to information provided by central public information officer of Allahabad HC, this new provision allows petitioners to file any type of petition in the high court without visiting Allahabad just for photo and affidavit verification.However, the petitioner must be physically present at the e-service centre, and a scanned notarised affidavit with petitioner’s photo is required.
The Allahabad high court has communicated these instructions to all district judges. Senior lawyer KC Jain, who filed the RTI application, said, “Compliance with the directions of Allahabad HC dated April 23, 2024, has not yet been achieved in several district courts across the state. The high court must ensure that district courts provide the facility of e-filing of personal petitions through their e-service centres as soon as possible so that litigants can benefit from these orders.”
Jain also requested that requirement for photo verification of affidavits in petitions filed through an advocate should be removed, just as it has been for in-person petitions filed through e-service centres. He argued that travelling to Prayagraj solely for photo verification is costly, inconvenient, and an obstacle to justice.