Gauhati HC’s SOP for 1 month: Virtual hearings, car-pooling, half staff

Guwahati: Gauhati high court has notified an SOP mandating that all matters listed on Mondays and Fridays be heard preferably through video conferencing, following PM’s austerity call over a week ago. The SOP also encourages car-pooling among judges to conserve fuel and directs that only 50% of staff in each section attend office on alternate days.


The SOP will be applicable for one month from May 25 at the principal seat and the three outlying benches of the Gauhati HC — Nagaland, Mizoram, and Arunachal Pradesh — as well as the district courts under its jurisdiction.


According to the notification, the SOP will be reviewed at the end of the one-month period.


Under the new guidelines, video-conferencing links will be provided for hearings, and court masters will coordinate with stakeholders to ensure smooth proceedings.


“To ensure optimum utilisation of fuel, the judges of the Gauhati HC are encouraged to adopt car-pooling arrangements wherever possible or feasible,” the SOP stated. It further directs that registry vehicles for administrative errands be restricted, and departments or sections club multiple requirements into a single trip wherever possible.


Court staff not physically present must remain available via phone and the e-office platform during working hours, with registrars required to publish weekly rosters. Administrative meetings of committees will be conducted virtually, and briefs will be shared via email, the SOP added.


Certain sections — protocol, filing, copying, bench, computer, and e-courts — have been exempted from roster and fuel conservation measures due to the essential nature of their duties.


For the district courts of Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram, and Arunachal Pradesh, the respective district judges, chief judicial magistrates, and sub-divisional judicial magistrates have been asked to issue separate notifications or office orders to implement the SOP within their jurisdictions.


The same responsibility extends to presiding officers of MACT, industrial tribunals, labour courts, principal judges of family courts, CBI courts, special judges of NIA and CBI, and other similar establishments functioning under the authority of the Gauhati HC.


Training programmes of the Judicial Academy, Assam, will also be conducted entirely online during this period.