Rajasthan High Court Drops Suo Motu Contempt Against Registry Officials Over Non-Listing Of Cases
The Rajasthan High Court has dropped the suo moto contempt proceedings initiated against Registry officials over grievances expressed by certain advocates alleging non-listing of matters even after Court fixing the next dates. The division bench of Justice Pushpendra Singh Bhati and Justice Sandeep Shah took note of a Supreme Court decision that held that filing of contempt petition merely...
The Rajasthan High Court has dropped the suo moto contempt proceedings initiated against Registry officials over grievances expressed by certain advocates alleging non-listing of matters even after Court fixing the next dates.
The division bench of Justice Pushpendra Singh Bhati and Justice Sandeep Shah took note of a Supreme Court decision that held that filing of contempt petition merely for not listing of matter was an attempt to “browbeat the Registry”, and such attempt was highly deprecated.
The grievance expressed by certain advocates was that despite a clear order being passed by the Court, the matters were not getting listed on those dates, making things difficult for counsels coming from outside for such hearings. It was alleged that such situation became worse in bail applications.
Pursuant to this, the Court observed that non-listing of matters even after fixing of dates by Court amounted to interference in administration of justice, and a notice of contempt was directed to be issued.
When the matter was heard, and record was perused, including the affidavits filed, the Amicus Curiae made a mention of the Apex Court decision in Manoj v State of UP, in which the following observations were made while imposing a cost of Rs. 25,000 on the petitioner,
“Merely because the matter is not listed on the date specified by the Court, cannot be a ground to initiate contempt petition against the Secretary General and Registrar (Listing) Of this Court. There are certain difficulties on account of which the matters cannot be listed, even if the Court directs the matter to be listed on a particular date.”
In this background, the Court held that considering the record, explanations, and the unconditional apology, it was not appropriate to continue contempt proceedings.
Accordingly, the petition was disposed of.
Title: Suo Moto v Akshay Sharma & Anr.
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Raj) 91