The Legal 500

BASED IN LONDON, : ANAND AND ANAND

In the Mattel suit CS(OS) 344/2008- IA No. 1481/2012, Anand and Anand was able to successfully seek a grant from the Hon'ble Delhi High Court on behalf of its client (Mattel Inc.)  to record the evidence through video conferencing, which is a unique and landmark feat, wherein Hon'ble Delhi High Court is introducing pioneering changes in dispensing justice. The process was successful and the witness in London was cross - examined for nearly 1½ hours.  Through this note, we are enlisting the steps which were taken for facilitating such recordal of evidence:-

a.     An application was moved before the Hon’ble Court under Section 151 CPC enlisting the circumstances which warrant the recordal of evidence through video-conferencing.  Our main ground was that the witness is a resident of London and it is expedient and less expensive to have the evidence recorded through video-conferencing.  In our case, we were fortunate that we had obtained the consent of the opposite party for recordal of evidence through video-conferencing.   

b.     This application was allowed by the Hon’ble Judge, who directed that the evidence be recorded through video conferencing at the Annexe Building of the Delhi High Court which hosts the video-conferencing facility.  While we did try to have the evidence recorded at the Oberoi Hotel, the Hon’ble Judge insisted that the parties must first try to utilize the facilities available at the Delhi High Court first and only if those facilities were found to be inadequate, then the recordal of evidence could take place at a mutually convenient venue.

c.     The Hon’ble Judge also issued a direction to the Indian High Commission at London wherein an officer of the Indian High Commission was to be present with the witness at the time of video conferencing. 

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