The Kerala High Court recently issued a stern warning to its registry officials, emphasizing the importance of adhering to the court's roster when listing cases, unless directed otherwise by the Chief Justice.

The warning came from a division bench comprising Chief Justice AJ Desai and VG Arun, who highlighted that improper listing could cause inconvenience to both judges and advocates.

The court took notice of a specific case where appellants raised concerns about their appeal and related petitions being improperly listed before a single judge, despite an earlier order to list them before the appropriate bench as per the roster. This led to some cases being heard by the same single judge, even though they were not within their jurisdiction according to the roster. The appellants argued for a consolidated hearing based on the roster's directives.

Acknowledging the appellants' concerns, the court emphasized that the roster clearly delineates the jurisdiction of judges, especially when they are temporarily sitting alone on a division bench. In this instance, the single judge was only designated to handle specific types of cases according to the roster.

Consequently, the court allowed the appeal, directing that the cases be properly listed before the appropriate single judge in accordance with the current roster. It also nullified the previous orders issued by the single judge.

Representatives for both appellants and respondents were present, including Senior Advocate E Nandakumar and Senior Advocates PB Krishnan and Joseph Kodianthara, among others. Senior Government Pleader KP Harish appeared for the State.

Case Title: Nair Service Sciety v. TK gopalakrishnan Nair & Ors.