Same High Court Order, Same FIR, Different Benches: Supreme Court Questions Registry Procedure

The Supreme Court of India has expressed strong displeasure over an error by its Registry for listing petitions arising from the same High Court order before different benches.

A Bench of Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice Atul S Chandurkar noticed that two accused persons had filed separate petitions challenging the same Allahabad High Court order related to the same FIR. However, one petition was listed before a Bench led by Justice B V Nagarathna, while the other came before the Bindal–Chandurkar Bench.

The Court noted that the earlier Bench had already issued notice and stayed the operation of the High Court order. In such circumstances, listing another petition from the same matter before a different Bench was improper.

The Bench directed that the present petition be placed before the Bench headed by Justice Nagarathna after seeking appropriate orders from the Chief Justice of India. It also ordered the Registry to explain how such a mistake occurred and stated that responsibility of the erring official must be fixed.