The Supreme Court e-committee has directed via letter to all High Courts to ensure that all petitions and cases filed by the government are done only by way of e-filing. The physical filing of cases will not be permitted after January 1, 2022.
Until now, all parties have the option of filing physical copies of various petitions, applications, and documents along with the e-copies. The judiciary has been moving towards digitization of courts, with an eye towards streamlining the system and reducing the impact on the environment from using paper. The e-filing system also makes it easier to find specific documents from the large paperbacks. The new rules will come into effect from 1st January 2022.
Even for other litigants, including individual persons, e-filing will be "compulsory for certain categories of matters such as revenue, tax, arbitration, commercial disputes and any other category as deemed fit by the concerned High Court from January 1."