Poor maintenance of judicial records of a sensitive case today irked a Supreme Court bench which came down heavily on its registry and summoned the Secretary General of the apex court.
"Ask the Secretary General to come here. How do you expect judges to work on these files," a bench headed by Justice Ranjan Gogoi said.
It was hearing civil appeals filed by Syed Gouse Mohiuddin Shah Khadri, the Sajjada Nasheen (hereditary administrator) of communally-sensitive Sufi shrine, Guru Dattatreya Bababudanswamy Dargah, and the Citizens For Justice and Peace respectively.
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The bench took note of the poor conditions of records when lawyer Aparna Bhat, appearing for Citizens For Justice and Peace, was advancing arguments.
"Just see. See, how these files are maintained," the bench said while showing the files to the registry staffers.
At the fag end of the hearing on the appeals, the court philosophically referred to the delay on the part of judiciary and sarcastically remarked: "When we took five years to open the sealed report (of 2010 report of the Commissioner for Religious and Charitable Endowments, Karnataka), then how can we ask the state government to decide in five months.
