(1) Any person may make a complaint to the Ombudsman within whose jurisdiction the alleged violation took place, within three months from the date that the alleged violation took place:
Provided that the Ombudsman may, for reasons to be recorded in writing, extend the time limit to make the complaint by a further period of three months, if he is satisfied that circumstances prevented the complainant from making the complaint within the stipulated period.
(2) All complaints shall be made to the Ombudsman in writing in accordance with the form set out in the Appendix appended to these rules:
Provided that where a complainant cannot make a complaint in writing, the Ombudsman shall render all reasonable assistance to the complainant to produce the complaint in writing.
(3) In cases of medical emergency, the Ombudsman or his assistant may visit the complainant at the location of the alleged violation or any other convenient place to enable written documentation of the complaint..
(4) The Ombudsman may receive complaints made in person, via post, telephonically, or through electronic form through the Ombudsman's website:
Provided that the Jharkhand AIDS Control Society, within seven days of the appointment of the Ombudsman shall establish a website of the Ombudsman.
8. Disseminate information on Ombudsman-(1) Within thirty days of the appointment of the Ombudsman, the appropriate authority under the State Government shall disseminate information about the office of the Ombudsman, including the Ombudsman's jurisdiction, role, functioning and procedures, and the manner in which complaints can be made to the Ombudsman.
(2)Such dissemination shall be undertaken to advance the understanding, in particular, of protected persons, healthcare workers, legal aid service authorities and civil authorities.
9. Manner of recording pseudonym and providing suppression of identity in legal proceedings- (1) In any legal proceeding where a court, pursuant to clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 34 of the Act directs, on an application made by a protected person or any other person, that in the interests of justice the proceeding or any part thereof be conducted by suppressing the identity of such protected person, the Registrar of the court shall direct all parties involved to:
(i) file one copy of the documents bearing the full name, identity and identifying details of the parties concerned before the court, which shall be kept in a sealed cover and in safe custody with the Registrar; and
(ii) Serve one copy of documents bearing the full name, identity and identifying details of the parties concerned upon other parties in the proceeding with a requirement to ensure that the full name and identity of the parties concerned are kept confidential.
(2) The Registrar shall provide pseudonyms to protect the persons involved in the legal proceedings in the documents filed before the court in such manner that the identity and identifying details of the protected person involved in the legal proceeding are kept confidential.
(3) The Registrar shall place the sealed covered documents before the court on the first date the legal proceeding is listed for hearing before the court, if so required by the court.
(4) The identities of the protected person involved in the legal proceeding and their identifying details shall, be displayed in pseudonym in all documentation generated by the court in relation to the legal proceeding, including listing of the case on the court Board, interim orders and final judgments.
(5) The identity and identifying details of the protected person involved in the legal proceeding shall not be revealed by any person or their representatives including assistants and staff.
Exception: Where in the interest of justice, the name and identity of the protected person needs to be revealed to a third party,it shall only be allowed by an order of the court.
(6) Printing or publishing any matter in relation to the aforementioned legal proceedings in electronic or any other form, shall be lawful only if the same is done by ensuring the suppression of identities of the parties in the legal proceeding.
(7) In any legal proceeding before it under the Act, the court shall comply with data protection measures in accordance with section 11 of the Act.
JHARKHAND GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, DATE:
APPENDIX [See rule 7(2)] Form for making Complaint to Ombudsman
1. Date of Incident
2. Place of Incident
3. Description of incident
4. Person/ Institution responsible for the incident Signature/Thumb Impression of Complainant Name: Date:
Mobile No./email/Fax/Address:
For Official Use only:
Unique Complaint Number:----- *Where the complaint is received telephonically and reduced to writing by the Ombudsman, the Ombudsman shall sign the Form.