APPENDIX -VII

1. Any information contained in an electronic record that is sought to be produced in an electronic

form and/or intended to be proved as per law shall be filed only through Designated Counters.
Any party found dumping irrelevant data / electronic records.

2. Where the electronic record is contained in an electronic device it shall, before being produced,
be imaged for being produced on to a removable media.

3. The electronic record shall be accompanied by a memo [see Form A below]. The details and
columns shall be filled up to the extent the information is available. Where the Operating
System and software required to read/view/access the electronic record is unavailable, it shall
be provided by the party producing the electronic record in a separate storage media.

4. Upon the receipt of the electronic record, the hash value thereof shall be verified by the
Registry and the electronic record shall be transferred forthwith to the server of the Court
following the protocol set out as under:

• Image of the electronic record shall be received only by the authorized personnel.

• Image of the electronic record shall be accompanied by a memo (Form A) by the party
tendering it.

• There shall be a dedicated server for receipt and storage of electronic records with
clearly specified access rights.

• A standardized procedure, as reviewed and updated from time to time, shall be followed
for the verification of the details mentioned in the memo accompanying the electronic
record.

• The file structure of the electronic record based on the case number and the unique
reference number shall be generated through the software. For example, Case Number
Unique Reference Number of the Electronic Record

• An acknowledgement depicting the unique reference number assigned to the electronic

record shall be given to the party tendering the electronic record.

• No electronic record in auto-erase mode shall be received. Every electronic record will
be preserved in read-only mode.

• A backup shall be created simultaneously of each electronic record after assignment of

the unique reference number and the backup shall be stored at a separate location.

• Logs shall be maintained for all actions and the entire process shall be automated.

5. Where confidentiality is sought in respect of the whole or any part of the electronic record,
directions may be sought from the Court concerned.
6. The extant rules (of the Court concerned) regarding retention and production of original
documents will apply mutatis mutandis to electronic records produced in terms of these rules.

7. Upon verification and transfer, a unique number will be assigned to the electronic record by the
Registry. Such a unique number shall be made available to the person tendering such electronic
record.

8. After a unique number is assigned, the storage media will be returned to the party/counsel
concerned.

9. A separate register in the prescribed format shall be maintained in every Court or Court
complex as the case may be, of the electronic records received, verified and transferred to the
server.

10. Till such time the electronic record is transferred to the server and returned to the person
tendering it, the storage device containing the electronic record should be placed in antistatic
and magnetic proof or another such appropriate envelope, to be provided by the party. Such
envelope will be appropriately labelled, by the party with the details of the case and the
electronic record in the manner indicated below:

• The storage media containing the electronic record will be tendered in an

appropriate envelope or cover.
• The envelope or cover should be free of dust, grease and chemical pollutants and
kept in a sterile environment
• As far as possible:
o The appropriate size of the envelope would be 6” x 6” for pen drives and memory
cards; 7” x 10” for CD, DVD and 8” x 10” for hard disks.
o Electronic record should always be packed in anti-static packing and magnetic
proof. Only paper or cardboard should be used with a thin water/dustproof
plastic layer on the outside of the envelope.
o A master envelope may be used to hold multiple disks (packed in separate hard
plastic cases) if necessary.
• The Label affixed thereupon, should necessarily include the case details,
type, make and Sr. no. of the electronic storage media along with the name of the
party or the person tendering it.

Such envelope should be kept in a sterile environment. After the electronic record is transferred
as per the protocol hereinabove, the envelope will be returned along with the storage media. In
any event, the storage media and the envelope will not be retained beyond one week, unless
otherwise ordered by the Court.

11. The Registry shall maintain logs documenting all processes and protocols for electronic records
created in the normal course of business.

12. The court concerned will display on the website the list of the operating systems and the
softwares available in the court system. Guidance notes will be uploaded on the websites of the
High Court and District Courts.

13. Only authorized personnel shall have access to electronic records.

14. These rules/guidelines do not deal with the destruction of electronic records or devices which
 have not been collected under clause 11. These will be governed by the rules framed by the
Court concerned for that purpose, as the case may be.

15. These rules will apply also to the production of electronic records during the cross-examination
of a witness in the course of the trial.
 APPENDIX –IX

PROTOCOL TO BE FOLLOWED FOR THE MARKING OF ELECTRONIC RECORDS AS

EXHIBITS DURING TRIAL

1. Image of the electronic record shall be retrieved from the server of the Court during the stage of
trial after verifying its authenticity with reference to its hash value and metadata.

2. Where an electronic record is printable, its print out shall be marked as an exhibit as per
applicable rules and practices. This print out so marked as an exhibit be scanned, electronically
signed by the Judge and uploaded on to the Court server as the exhibited electronic record.

3. Where the image of the electronic record is in the form of an audio recording of a conversation,
the parties concerned shall produce transcripts of the recorded conversation. The transcripts must
bear all material particulars including the date, time and duration of the recordings, the mobile
phone numbers with IMEI numbers of the handsets used and the names of the purported
conversationalists. The audio recording shall be played in the Court. The matching transcript of
such audio recording will be marked as an exhibit as per applicable rules and practices. The
exhibited transcript of the audio recording will be scanned, electronically signed by the Judge and
uploaded on to the Court server as the exhibited electronic record.

4. Where the image of the electronic record is in the form of an audio recording of a music clip,
tune, etc. The audio file may be accessed with the help of prescribed „audio file visualiser‟
software for viewing and analysing the contents of music audio files; for viewing their
waveforms, audio visualisations such as spectrogram views, with interactive adjustment of
display parameters. The relevant portion(s) of the audio data may be annotated by adding labelled
time points and defining segments, point values, curves, overlay annotations on top of one
another with aligned scales, and overlay annotations on top of waveform or spectrogram views,
etc.;

5. Where the image of the electronic record is in the form of a video recording, the same shall be
played in the Court. The proceeding of the Court in which the video record is played, statement of
the witness including cross-examination in respect of any part of the video record shall be video
recorded to form part of the record of the trial. This video recorded deposition of the witness be
treated as an exhibit. The Court in its order sheet must record in detail the persons identified by
the witness and any other material aspect of the deposition/cross-examination concerning all / any
part of the video record played in the Court. Time frame in the video be also mentioned in the
order, wherever required.

BY ORDER OF THE COURT

Sd/-
(MANOJ JAIN)
REGISTRAR GENERAL

Notification stands published in Delhi Gazette Extraordinary, Part II, Section I, No. 6 (NCTD No. 476) dated 25.02.2022