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Importance of Roster
« »26-Oct-2023
Source: Supreme Court
Why in News?
The Supreme Court has issued a directive, emphasizing that judges should avoid handling cases that have not been explicitly assigned to them by the Chief Justice of the Court in the matter of Ambalal Parihar vs State of Rajasthan and ors.
What is the Background of Ambalal Parihar vs State of Rajasthan and Ors. Case?
- Around six First Information Reports (FIR) were registered against the second to fourth respondents.
- Two other FIRs were registered against the same respondents by some other first informants.
- Criminal Miscellaneous Petitions were filed by the second to fourth respondents for quashing the FIRs under Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC) filed at the instance of the other first informants.
- The petition came before a learned Single Judge of the Rajasthan High Court (HC) in which no interim relief was granted.
- Thereafter, the second to fourth respondents took an extraordinary step to file a Writ Petition on the Civil Side in which a prayer was made for issuing the writ of mandamus for clubbing the eight FIRs and consolidating them into one and that no coercive action to be taken against them.
- The Learned Single Judge of the High Court directed that no coercive action should be taken against the second to fourth respondents in connection with all eight FIRs.
- The present appellant while applying to the SC (at whose instance some FIRs were filed) made serious allegations against the respondents by relying upon the fact that then prevailing roster notified by the Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court was evaded by first filing application for quashing of FIR and then for consolidation of FIRs.
What were the Court’s Observations?
- The bench of Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice Pankaj Mithal said that this type of tactics amounts to gross abuse of process of law by the second to fourth respondents.
- The SC further stressed that failing to adhere to the roster as determined by the Chief Justice would undermine its significance.
- The Apex Court also said the HC judge ought not to have entertained such a civil petition for clubbing FIRs, when the jurisdiction for such matters is on the criminal side.
What is a Roster?
- A court roster is basically a schedule that lists the cases and proceedings that are set to take place in a court on a particular day.
- It may include Case Number, Case Title, Courtroom No., Judge Name, Date etc.
- SC Handbook on Practice and Procedure and Office Procedure mentions about roster under Chapter VI.
What are the Related Case Laws?
- In State of Rajasthan v. Prakash Chand (1997) case, the SC has held that in matters concerning the High Court, the Chief Justice holds the authority to determine the assignment of cases.
- In Shanti Bhushan v. Supreme Court of India Through Its Registrar and Another (2018) case, the SC has iterated that Chief Justice of India is the Master of Roster for the SC matters and he has power to allocate cases to different benches according to SC rules.