Allahabad High Court Orders Action Against Registry Officials For Applying Own 'Wisdom' In Court Proceedings

The Allahabad High Court recently directed the drawing of proceedings against an Assistant Registrar (Second Appeal) and a Review Officer of the HC on the administrative side for applying their own 'wisdom' to convert one proceeding into another.A bench of Justice Kshitij Shailendra took exception to the act of the concerned administrative officers for converting a Second Appeal into a First Appeal From Order without the Court's permission and without any application to the aforesaid effect."The Court takes judicial notice of the report dated 19.11.2024 and finds that the explanation offered transgresses the judicial powers of this Court in a case when one or the proceeding is held to be non-maintainable by the Court but without there being any order of the Court, the office attempts to apply its own "wisdom" to convert one proceeding into another," observed in its order.Essentially, on October 16, 2024, the single judge, while dealing with a Second Appeal, prima facie opined that since the first appellate court had remanded the matter to the trial court, the second appeal is not maintainable and a first appeal from order under Order 43 Rule 1(u) CPC would lie.When the matter again came up for a hearing before the bench on November 13, it had been converted into a First Appeal From Order. The court took note of it and called for an explanation from the office as to how the said appeal was converted with the court's permission. The office explained that based on a previous order of the Court, which stated that the Second Appeal was not maintainable and that a First Appeal From Order under Order XLIII Rule 1(u) CPC would lie, the Second Appeal was presented before the Stamp Reporter. Following this, necessary corrections were made by the learned counsel, and the appeal was converted into a First Appeal From Order as per established practice.However, the Court rejected this explanation, emphasizing that the officers involved had treated the matter casually, failing to grasp the seriousness of their actions.Thus, the court ordered action against the concerned officers and, at the same time, warned the counsel to be vigilant in the future by observing thus:"...merely because this Court had observed regarding non-maintainability of the appeal, he was under no authority to incorporate corrections in the original record of the Court proceedings, without leave of the Court"The court then posted the case for February 10 by directing that the matter be put before the Registrar General of this Court for appropriate proceedings.Case title - Mahendra Kumar Jain And 6 Others vs. Sobran Singh And 11 OthersClick Here To Read/Download Order

Allahabad High Court Orders Action Against Registry Officials For Applying Own 'Wisdom' In Court Proceedings

Sparsh Upadhyay

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