Supreme Court Raises Concerns Over Irregularities in Patna High Court’s Order Uploading Process
The Supreme Court has expressed “serious concerns” over certain irregularities in the uploading of a Patna High Court order. On Friday, the apex court directed the Chief Justice of the Patna High Court to thoroughly investigate the matter and take necessary corrective measures.
The division bench, consisting of Justice S. Ravindra Bhat and Justice Aravind Kumar, was reviewing a bail application when they identified an inconsistency in the High Court’s proceedings. The order in question, dated 20.04.2023, had not been made accessible to the party it affected. Furthermore, despite the case status indicating that the matter was “disposed of” on 20.04.2023, the order had not been uploaded to the High Court’s website.
Seeking clarity, the Supreme Court, on 25.08.2023, requested an explanation from the Registrar of the Patna High Court about the case’s status and the contested order. The Registrar, in a response dated 30.08.2023, informed the Supreme Court that the case had been assigned to Justice Sandeep Kumar on 18.04.2023 and was concluded on 20.04.2023. However, the order was only formally announced on 28.08.2023.
The Supreme Court also examined the High Court’s order from 20.04.2023, which read:
“Learned counsel for the petitioner is permitted to remove defect(s), as pointed out by the office, if any, within a period of four weeks from today. Due to non-availability of file, the order could not be typed in time.”
This revelation further emphasized the irregularities in the order processing.
Highlighting the gravity of the situation, the Supreme Court stated,
“The above facts disclose the matter of serious concerns which requires to be looked into. We, therefore, request Hon’ble the Chief Justice of the Patna High Court to call for the relevant files, look into the issue and take whatever steps necessary in this regard.”
The apex court made this statement while concluding the matter.
In the meantime, the petitioner in the bail application has been granted a period to surrender and subsequently apply for regular bail.
The case, titled “MANISH KUMAR V. STATE OF BIHAR, SPECIAL LEAVE PETITION (CRIMINAL) Diary No(s). 22872/2023,” is now cited as “2023 LiveLaw (SC) 738.” This incident underscores the importance of transparency and accuracy in the judicial process, ensuring that all parties involved have timely access to essential documents and orders.
