Date:05/05/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/05/05/stories/2007050512800400.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Advocates to be kept posted via SMS

B.S. Ramesh

Cause list and other information can be accessed on cellphones

Facility being tested, will be introduced soon

Cellphone service providers have been approached

BANGALORE: In a pioneering move, the Karnataka High Court will soon be disseminating information on courts, particularly the cause list, to advocates on their cellphones through short messaging service (SMS).

Senior judge and chairman of the High Court Computer Committee S.R. Bannurmath told The Hindu that the modalities of the system were being worked out and it would be initially introduced in Bangalore shortly.

He hoped that the system would become fully operational in the next few months. The High Court has already talked to various cellphone service providers about the project.

The High Court is also working on a system to ensure that advocates receive the computerised cause list (daily list of cases scheduled for hearing the next day in each court) before 6.30 p.m.

An Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) has been introduced by the High Court for the benefit of advocates and litigants. The system will help them get information on the status of their cases.

A project to connect the Vidhana Soudha and the High Court through a dedicated local area network has been finalised. The court has already put its system into place, and it is now the turn of the Government to ensure that the Law Department and the office of the Advocate General are connected to the network. This will expedite the movement of files and records and reduce bureaucratic delays.