Supreme Court pulls up its registry for failing to understand simple orders and blaming court masters

The Supreme Court on Monday pulled up its registry for repeated failure to place on record two copies of witness deposition in a criminal case [Harphool @ Kala vs State of Uttar Pradesh]..A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Pankaj Mithal noted that it was unfortunate that the concerned registry officials were passing the blame for the slip up to the court masters. "It is unfortunate that the Senior Court Assistant and other officers have tried to shift the entire blame on the court masters. According to us, the court masters had no role to play in compliance with the orders of this Court and they cannot be blamed for the lapse ... This is a very sorry state of affairs. The members of the staff of the registry are not able to understand simple orders passed by this Court and they are trying to shift the entire burden on the court masters which was uncalled for," the bench observed.The Court added that it was obvious that a division bench would need two copies of documents."It is obvious that only one copy cannot be supplied and two copies are required. The explanations submitted by some staff members show that even this elementary knowledge was lacking.".The observations came while hearing an appeal against a murder conviction where the accused was given a sentence of seven years' rigorous imprisonment in 2008.The Allahabad High Court had in 2017 upheld the conviction and sentence leading to the appeal before the top court by the convict..Thereafter, the proceedings before the top court were delayed due to the failure on the part of the registry in placing on record the necessary soft copies.On May 12, the top court ordered that the needful be done by July 21. The same order was reiterated on July 21 after the registry did not place the material on record, along with other relevant documents. On failing to do so even by August 25, the bench sought an explanation from the registrar (Judicial Listing). When the matter came up on September 11, the court went through the explanations tendered by the registrar and other staff members and expressed its disappointment with the same.However, it proceeded to close the matter after apologies were tendered by the concerned registry officials."However, we expect the concerned Registrar (Judicial Listing) to instruct the members of the staff that the orders of the Court should be scrupulously implemented and in event, any member of the Registry has any doubt, they should seek clarification through the Court Masters. List on 18th September, 2023," the Court said..Advocate Arjun Garg served as the Amicus Curiae in the case. Advocates Shobhit Jain, Aakash Nandolia, Sagun Srivastava, and Shreya Bansal appeared for the convict..[Read order]