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Published : 05 Jan 2025, 09:15 PM
Paperless trials have begun in a bench of the High Court Division of the Supreme Court in a significant move to modernise the country’s justice system.
On Sunday, the bench of Justice Ahmed Sohel marked the occasion, calling it “the entry into a new era”.
The initiative is part of a broader plan by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed, who had earlier announced a roadmap to digitise the judiciary by 2025.
A press release issued on Dec 31, 2024 emphasised the chief justice's vision of reaching “the doorsteps of the people” through technological advancements.
The rollout of paperless proceedings was initially scheduled for Jan 2, but it was delayed as the court was closed that day to mourn the passing of AF Hassan Ariff, an advisor to the interim government and a former attorney general.
On Sunday, the company court resumed operations, with 30 cases on its docket. Two applications for the cases were filed online, marking the system’s first test.
One of the two applications was submitted by Advocate Md Jamil Khan.
He told bdnews24.com that he had submitted a mansion slip online. According to Jamil, several applications are ready for submission following the same process.
He later described the process.
“Lawyers must first obtain a password and create an account in the court’s system. Case documents are then uploaded as PDFs, and a printed confirmation page, along with an affidavit, must be submitted physically to the court.”
Hearings for these cases are still conducted in person, though Jamil noted the potential for fully online hearings in the future.
Referring to lawyers, the judge said: "There is a video on the Supreme Court website regarding this. It tells you how to file online. Get used to it gradually."
Recalling the online hearing during the COVID-19 pandemic, Justice Sohel said although it seemed like a hassle at first, the lawyers later got used to it.
"Learned DAG, now everything is online, we have entered a new era," he said while speaking to the deputy attorney general.
