Constitution of India – Art. 32 – The petitioner, an advocate, filed a writ petition during the pandemic of Covid-19 against the various officers of the Registry of the Supreme Court and Union of India seeking direction in the nature of mandamus directing the respondents not to give preference to the cases filed by influential lawyers/ petitioners, law firms etc. – Direction was also sought to give equal treatment to the cases filed by ordinary lawyers/petitioners and not to point out unnecessary defects, refund the excess Court fee and other charges, and not to tag the cases without order or direction of the Court with other cases – Held: The petition as filed could not be said to be maintainable – The Petitioner has impleaded the Secretary General, various Registrars and Officers of the Registry, SCBA and Union of India – In contrast, writ is filed against the Supreme Court itself – He ought to have impleaded the Supreme Court of India in the Writ application through Secretary General – The omission indicates careless conduct on the part of the petitioner – The petition was filed in undue haste – The Supreme Court takes judicial notice of the fact that a large number of petitions are filed which are defective; still, the insistence is made to list them and mention is made that they should be listed urgently – It happens in large number of matters and unnecessary pressure is put upon the Assistants dealing with the cases – This is too much to expect perfection from them, particularly when they are working to their maximum capacity even during the pandemic – The staff is working despite danger to their life and safety caused due to pandemic and several of the dealing staff, as well as officers, have suffered due to Covid-19 – In general, it has become a widespread practice to blame the Registry for no good reasons – To err is human, as many petitions are filed with defects and defects are not cured for years together – In such situation when the pandemic is going on, baseless and reckless allegations are made against the Registry of the Supreme Court, which is part and parcel of the judicial system – There are no ground to entertain the petition – Thus, the petition is dismissed.
Advocate – Expectations from Advocates and the role of the Registry – Held: The members of the noble fraternity are expected to respect themselves first – They are an intellectual class of the society – what may be proper for others may still be improper for them, the expectations from them is to be exemplary to the entire society, then only the dignity of noble profession and judicial can be protected – The Registry is nothing but an arm of the Supreme court and an extention of its dignity – Bar is equally respected and responsible part of the integral system, Registry is part and parcel of the system and the system has to work in tandem and mutual reverence.
Dismissing the Writ Petition, the Court
HELD : 1. The petition as filed could not be said to be maintainable. The petitioner has impleaded the Secretary General, various Registrars, and officers of the Registry, SCBA, and Union of India in his writ application. In contrast, Writ is filed against this Court itself. He ought to have impleaded the Supreme Court of India in the Writ application through Secretary-General. The omission indicates careless conduct on the part of the petitioner. The petition was filed in undue haste. [Para 16] [466-D]
2. This Court takes judicial notice of the fact that a large number of petitions are filed which are defective; still, the insistence is made to list them and mention is made that they should be listed urgently. It happens in a large number of matters, and unnecessary pressure is put upon the Assistants dealing with the cases. When petitions with defects are filed, it should not be expected that they should be listed instantly. To err is human and there can be an error on the part of the Dealing Assistants too. This is too much to expect perfection from them, particularly when they are working to their maximum capacity even during the pandemic. The cases are being listed. It could not be said that there was an inordinate delay in listing the matters in view of COURT OF INDIA & ORS.
the defects. The Court functioned during the lockdown, the cases were scanned and listed by the Registry. The staff of this Court is working despite danger to their life and safety caused due to pandemic, and several of the Dealing Staff, as well as Officers, have suffered due to Covid-19. During such a hard time, it was not expected of the petitioner who is an officer of this Court to file such a petition to demoralize the Registry of this Court instead of recognizing the task undertaken by them even during pandemic and lockdown period. [Para 17][466-E-H]
3. In general, it has become a widespread practice to blame the Registry for no good reasons. To err is human, as many petitions are filed with defects, and defects are not cured for years together. A large number of such cases were listed in the recent past before the Court for removal of defects which were pending for years. In such situation, when the pandemic is going on, baseless and reckless allegations are made against the Registry of this Court, which is part and parcel of the judicial system. This Court takes judicial notice of the fact that such evil is also spreading in the various High Courts, and Registry is blamed unnecessarily for no good reasons. It is to be remembered by worthy lawyers that they are the part of the judicial system; they are officers of the Court and are a class apart in the society. [Para 18][467-A-C]
4. This Court expects members of the noble fraternity to respect themselves first. They are an intellectual class of the society. What may be proper for others may still be improper for them, the expectations from them is to be exemplary to the entire society, then only the dignity of noble profession and judicial system can be protected. The Registry is nothing but an arm of this Court and an extension of its dignity. Bar is equally respected and responsible part of the integral system, Registry is part and parcel of the system, and the system has to work in tandem and mutual reverence. It is also expected from the Registry to work efficiently and effectively. At the same time, it is expected of the lawyers also to remove the defects effectively and not to unnecessarily cast aspersions on the system. [Para 20] [470-A-C]
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
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