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Synopsis

The Supreme Court has said that its registry has no authority to delete a case which is already listed, unless there is a specific direction by the Chief Justice of India or the bench concerned, as the cause list is of the court and not of the registry and there is a sanctity to it. 

Even if a case is listed by mistake, the registry must seek permission of the concerned judges for deletion of a case, a bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan said.

On January 22, 2025, a special leave petition was listed on the cause list at Serial No.11. The bench noted that after the case file was circulated and after the judges had read the case file, the registry had deleted the case from the cause list on a specious ground that notice of making alternative arrangement issued to the sole respondent was not received back. 

The court pointed out the registry is listing a large number of cases where the notices are either not returned or not served. Therefore, the fact that the notice of making alternative arrangement was not served was no ground to delete a case which was notified on the cause list.

"Once a case is notified on the cause list, unless there is a specific order to that effect either of the bench concerned or the Chief Justice of India, the Registry has no authority to delete a case which is already listed. It must be noted here that the cause list is of the Court and not of the Registry. There is a sanctity to the cause list. Even if a case is listed by mistake, the Registry must seek permission of the concerned judges for deletion of a case," the bench said.      

The court directed for providing copies of the present order to the Secretaries of the Bar Associations. 

The court thus disposed of the report submitted by the registry by accepting the apology of the staff members, observing no action was warranted against any staff member.   

Earlier, the court had directed the Registrar (Judicial) to submit an explanation of why this petition was deleted. 

"In one of the earlier orders to which one of us (Abhay S Oka, J) is a party, we had directed the Registry that if for good reasons, they want to delete a case which is notified, it is their duty to inform the judges in advance giving reasons for such deletion. The Registry to submit a report on this aspect," the bench had then directed.

The court had then noted the registry had deleted the case for no reason. Once a matter has been shown in the daily cause list, the Registry cannot delete the same, it had then said.

Case Title: The State of Uttar Pradesh Vs Anup Singh