140. Request to Inspect Records:
(1) The parties or their Advocates may be permitted by the Registrar to inspect pleadings of other cases online. The party or Advocate may make such a request online and shall not be charged for such inspection.
(2) A party desiring to search or inspect any of the records of a case other than pleadings shall provide reasons in writing and an affidavit with the application to the Registrar. Inspection or search shall be allowed under and in accordance with the orders of the Registrar passed on the application. If allowed, no fee shall be required to be paid for the inspection.
(3) Wherever possible, the records shall be available in a digital format, and depending on the records required and the reasons provided, the Registrar may require the inspection to be in person at the Court.
(4) If a physical record is being inspected, no pen or ink shall be used during inspection, and no marks shall be made on any record or papers inspected. Any person infringing this rule may be deprived of their right to inspect such record.
(5) No party or person shall be entitled to inspect or search any document or paper of which certified copies cannot be granted as per Rule 134.
141. Prohibition on Inspection of Certain Items:
Nothing in these Rules shall entitle any person to inspect:
(1) the Judges’ notes or minutes;
(2) correspondence that is confidential or not strictly judicial;
(3) autograph judgments; and
(4) registers of the Court.
142. Storage of Records:
(1) The records of the case shall be maintained on a local server and remain on the litigants’ and Advocates’ dashboards once the case is disposed of in the High Court.
(2) All original documents submitted to the Court by any party shall be returned within __ days once the case is disposed of.
Provided that an original document may be returned to the party to whom it belongs during the course of the case if an application regarding the same has been made with reasons, and if allowed by the Bench hearing the case.
143. Destruction of Records:
(1) Any physical record of a case shall be destroyed five years after all the appeals in the case have been exhausted. This shall not be applicable to the duly signed original judgment and decree pronounced in the case, which shall be maintained indefinitely.
(2) Indexed digital records of a case maintained on a local server may be destroyed shall not be destroyed unless there is an order from the Chief Justice to do so.
(3) A summary of the case, including a chronological date of hearings and the final outcome of the case shall be prepared by the Registry and maintained indefinitely.
(4) All the orders, judgments and decrees in a case shall be indefinitely available on the High Court website or an equivalent website.