Criminal jurisdiction of ‘Calcutta High Court Cases Monitoring Cell’ inaugurated

Kolkata: A portal for criminal jurisdiction of Calcutta High Court Cases Monitoring Cell was inaugurated on Monday by Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam, in presence of Justice Debangsu Basak and Law minister Moloy Ghatak.

The portal Systemised Administration and Regulation of Tendering and Handling All Court Cases (SARTHAC) was initially developed in 2016 for the appellate side cases particularly for writ petitions and mandamus appeal. Through this, pleas filed before the High Court could be accessed online. This facility was extended to the criminal jurisdiction on Monday.

“Today is a landmark day for the Calcutta High Court. Thanks to Justice Basak for making this possible through a judicial order. This methodology has been working successfully since 2016 for the appellate side writ petitions, and rightly this facility has been extended to the criminal jurisdiction which is more important since we find multiple petitions for anticipatory bail or bail being filed by different counsels. This methodology will help weed out that problem,” Justice Sivagnanam said.

Justice Sivagnanam also hoped that it can be shifted to a larger space. “One more important aspect of this project is availability of data, which can be utilised for various purposes. In the computer committee we can discuss it. Retrieval of data will help in case any doubt arises at the police station or the public prosecutor’s office,” Justice Sivagnanam added.

While speaking at the inaugural ceremony, Justice Basak placed his hope in the project adding value to timely disposal of matters as well as improving the quality of justice that is rendered. “Initially, the criminal side filing will be limited to bail and anticipatory bail. I will request the authorities to enlarge the scope and bring within its fold other criminal matter which is being filed so that the same process is followed,” Justice Basak said.

Law minister also hoped that with the portal being operative from Monday, the problems currently faced in the criminal side will be minimised.