The Supreme Court issued the circular which dealt with the comprehensive guidelines to streamline the process of filing written submissions and compilations before constitution benches and important final hearing cases.
The Supreme Court guidelines laid out in the Standard Operating Procedure, SOP are set to provide the structured framework for filing soft copies of written submissions and creating common compilations of essential documents, rules, precedents, and timelines for oral arguments.
Therefore, there will be the nomination of the nodal counsel which is comprising of an advocate-on-record, AOR who is representing the each side. Thus, the said designated counsel will take on the responsibility of coordinating with all lawyers involved in the case. The circular issued mandates the filing of electronic versions of five volumes, each fulfilling a specific purpose:
Volume 1: The Written submission of the petitioner.
Volume 2: The Written submission of the respondent.
Volume 3: The Compilation of relevant documents which includes pleadings, affidavits, and orders that constitute the case’s record.
Volume 4: The Statutory enactments and research materials that support arguments.
Volume 5: The Precedents and the judgments which needs to be arranged by topic or chronologically, along with neutral citations. Additionally, PDF copies of foreign cases are required to be included.
The guidelines issued also highlighted that any additional materials must be filed with the permission of the court.
Furthermore, the practice direction directions outline precise formatting requirements:
Format: PDF.
Font: TheTimes New Roman, size 12.5.
Margin: 2.54 cm on all sides.
Line Spacing: Double (line spacing of 2).
Pagination: The number of running pages and PDF pages must match.
PDF Bookmarking: The Submissions must be bookmarked.
Hyperlinked Index: The index must include hyperlinks.
Highlighting the Name of Counsel’s: The names of counsel and senior advocates must be highlighted.
Party Name: The name of the party must be reflected accurately.
The circular issued also addresses the timeline for oral arguments:
The nodal counsel must be informed about the tentative timelines for their oral arguments which being at least five days prior to the hearing.
He will compile these timelines into a proposed statement and will present it to the court.
The court will finalize and will prescribe the timelines for oral arguments.
