Kerala High Court: In an appeal challenging an interim order related to the listing of matters by the registry, the Division Bench of A.J. Desai*, C.J. and V.G. Arun, J., allowed the appeal while remarking that listing of matters should be done as per the roster, and any deviation therefrom would warrant strict disciplinary action against the registry.
Background
The Nair Service Society (‘NSS’), represented by its General Secretary, along with several other appellants, challenged orders related to a series of writ petitions. Initially, four writ petitions were listed before a Single Judge on 05-04-2024. The Single Judge directed that these matters be listed before the appropriate bench as per the roster.
However, contrary to the order, two of these petitions were relisted before the same Single Judge on 11-04-2024 and were scheduled for 12-04-2024, where the judge issued specific directions and set the hearing date for 31-05-2024. This led to the present appeal where the appellants argued that the Single Judge should have adhered to the order dated 05-04-2024, ensuring all matters were listed according to the roster.
Decision and Analysis
The Court, after hearing arguments from both sides, examined the order passed by the Single Judge on 05-04-2024, which explicitly directed that all four petitions be listed before the appropriate bench as per the roster. The appellants argued that the interim orders dated 11-04-2024 and 12-04-2024 contradicted this direction, as the same Single Judge continued to preside over two of the petitions.
The Court acknowledged that the Single Judge, who issued the interim orders, was part of a Division Bench and as per the roster, was required to handle specific types of cases when sitting alone. The Court found that as per the roster effective from 23-03-2024, the Single Judge was only supposed to deal with original petitions and writ petitions of the year 2014.
Given the inconsistency with the earlier order and the roster requirements, the Court allowed the appeal. The orders dated 11-04-2024 and 12-04-2024 were quashed. The Court directed that all four writ petitions be listed before the appropriate bench according to the current roster effective from 20-05-2024, specifically in the week commencing from 27-05-2024. The Single Judge was also requested to expedite the hearing of these petitions.
Additionally, the Court emphasized the responsibility of the Office to strictly adhere to the roster unless directed otherwise by the Chief Justice and noted that any deviations causing inconvenience to judges or advocates would result in disciplinary action against the responsible officials.
[Nair Service Society v. T.K. Gopalakrishnan Nair, 2024 SCC OnLine Ker 2291, Decided on 21-05-2024]
*Judgment authored by A.J. Desai, Chief Justice, Kerala High Court
Advocates who appeared in this case :
Advocates for the Appellants: E. K. Nandakumar, Sr. Adv., M. Gopikrishnan Nambiar, K. John Mathai, Joson Manavalan, Kuryan Thomas, Paulose C. Abraham, Raja Kannan, Pranoy Harila
Advocates for the Respondents: Biju P.S., Sr. GP., K.P. Harish, Sr. Adv. P.B. Krishnan, Sr. Adv. Joseph Kodianthara
