Foundation stone of judicial complex laid by state Chief Justice in Dehra

Raghav Guleria

Dharamsala, May 11

Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court, Justice MS Ramachandra Rao, laid the foundation stone of the Judicial Court Complex in Dehra on Saturday. In the programme organised at Bachhat Bhawan, Dehra, Chief Justice Rao said the state high court is making dedicated efforts to ensure speedy and affordable justice to people at their doorstep. Effective steps have been taken to make the justice system more accessible to the public.

He said along with developing proper infrastructure in the high court and district courts, use of IT on a large scale is being ensured to improve the delivery of services to all stakeholders. E-payment facility for the District Judiciary of the state has been made live, enabling online payment of court fees, fines, penalties and judicial deposits, with the court fees integrated with the Stock Holding Corporation of India and other payments are directly integrated with Himkosh. The e-payment system has also been started for payment of court fees in the high court. Virtual courts have been successfully implemented for Bilaspur, Kinnaur, Hamirpur, Shimla, Solan and Sirmaur districts.

He said that training has been given to the traffic, tourist and railway departments as well as mobile traffic magistrates and court staff.

As many as 7,247 traffic challans have been settled till January 31, and a fine of nearly Rs 1.11 crore has been collected through the virtual court application.

He said that digitalisation of records of high court and district courts will be started soon. Service centres have been set up in the high court and district courts to assist advocates and litigants for e-filing of cases and other e-court services. Similar facilities are proposed at the sub-division level under Phase-II of the e-court project. He said that e-office has been implemented in various branches of the high court registry to reduce paper consumption and ensure accountability and transparency.

On the occasion, HP High Court Judge Justice Vivek Singh Thakur urged the judicial officers and lawyers to work together to provide speedy justice to people. District and Sessions Judge Rajiv Bali welcomed the guests, including the chief guest and Bar Association president SK Jambal, and expressed his gratitude for laying the foundation stone of the building. On the occasion, Registrar General High Court JK Sharma, Additional District and Sessions Judge Sapna Pandey, Senior Civil Judge Anshu Chaudhary, Civil Judge Gaurav Chaudhary, ADM Dr Harish Gajju, SDM Shilpi Beakta and various officers and advocates were present.

Rs 21 crore being spent

A sum of Rs 21 crore is being spent on the proposed four-storeye judicial complex spread in an area of 30 kanal at Dehra. The building is designed to have ample accommodation with provision for courts, library, bar room, etc.