Kerala High Court Cautions Against Copy-Paste Signatures in E-Filed Pleadings

The Kerala HC held that pleadings submitted through e-filing cannot carry signatures that are copied and pasted and must adhere to the Electronic Filing Rules for Courts (Kerala), 2021.

The matter came up after the Court noticed that a petition and affidavit placed before it appeared to contain electronically reproduced signatures and seals instead of proper digital authentication or physical signatures affixed before scanning and uploading.

The Court said Rule 6 requires either a valid digital signature, Aadhaar-based e-sign, OTP-based verification, or physical signatures on each page before scanning.

It directed the Registry not to accept pleadings with copy-paste signatures and instructed parties to retain original signed documents for verification when required. 

[MAT Agro Products Pvt Ltd v. The Manager, State Bank of India & Ors]