SC unhappy over plea alleging bias in listing of cases by court registry

The Supreme Court Friday expressed unhappiness over a plea which alleged bias on the part of its Registry in listing the cases of influential lawyers before benches and said that the department had been working day-and-night for the benefit of litigants as well as advocates.

A bench comprising Arun Mishra and S A Nazeer also reserved its verdict on a plea filed by lawyer Reepak Kansal seeking a direction to concerned apex court officials "not to give preferences to cases filed by influential lawyers/petitioners" during the period when the virtual courts are functioning during the Covid-19-induced lockdown.

Why are you making such reckless charges against the Registry and its section officers, the bench asked the lawyer.

The lawyer said that his plea on the issue of One Nation One Ration Card' has not been listed by the registry.

The registry is working day-and-night for you people...this has become a trend, the bench said, adding that these pleas should not have been filed.

Earlier, the plea was filed seeking a direction to the apex court's Secretary General and other officials to stop discrimination against not-so-influential lawyers.

The plea said that there was no mechanism to address complaints against erring officers of the registry who favour some law firms/advocates for reasons best known to them.

It also sought direction to the officials concerned not to point out unnecessary defects in cases of ordinary advocates/petitioners and refund the excess court fee and other charges.