The Supreme Court Dismisses Lawyer’s Plea Seeking Listing Of 21 Cases before the Madras High Court, declining to interfere with a High Court order that refused to direct its registry to list the matters.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!
New Delhi: The Supreme Court has dismissed a special leave petition filed by an advocate seeking directions to the registry of the Madras High Court to list 21 pending cases filed by him for his clients, leaving undisturbed a Madras High Court order that had refused to grant that relief in writ jurisdiction [L.K. Charles Alexander v. Registrar General, Madras High Court].
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and Aparesh Kumar Singh declined to entertain the plea.
The case
Advocate L.K. Charles Alexander had approached the Madras High Court seeking directions to its registry to list 21 pending cases that he had filed on behalf of clients. According to the petitioner, the registry had not listed the matters despite repeated requests.
On July 3, a Division Bench of the Madras High Court comprising Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G. Arul Murugan dismissed his writ petition. The High Court held that a writ petition cannot be used to bypass the established procedure for listing cases, and that lawyers and litigants have no vested right to have their matters listed ahead of cases filed earlier. It left it open to him to mention the matters before the concerned bench or to make a representation to the Registrar (Judicial).
Before the Supreme Court
Challenging that order, the advocate moved the Supreme Court. During the hearing, Justice Nath questioned whether the registry could be directed in the manner sought, pointing out that cause lists are published under the orders of the Chief Justice. The petitioner clarified that the directions he sought were to the registry. The bench then dismissed the petition, the oral order being a single word: “Dismissed”.
Why the order matters
The dismissal leaves intact the Madras High Court’s position that the listing of cases is governed by the court’s own administrative procedure and the orders of its Chief Justice, and that a writ petition is not the route to secure listing of matters. A lawyer who feels that matters are not being listed is left to the remedies the High Court pointed to: a mention before the bench or a representation to the Registrar (Judicial).
The Supreme Court did not record detailed reasons, and the above is drawn from what was said in court and the High Court’s order as described in the proceedings.
Case Title: L.K. Charles Alexander v. Registrar General, Madras High Court
Case Number: not stated
Bench: Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and Aparesh Kumar Singh, Supreme Court of India
Date of Order: October 9, 2026
Appearances: not stated