Recently, the Supreme Court deprecated the common practice of High Courts routinely summoning government officers for personal appearances. Instead, it emphasized that if the High Court deemed it essential for a government officer to be present, it should first consider utilizing video conferencing as a preferred alternative.

Referring to the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) outlined in the case of State of Uttar Pradesh & Ors. vs. . Association of Retired Supreme Court and High Court Judges at Allahabad & Ors., Justices BR Gavai and Sandeep Mehta emphasized that the SOP allows for the possibility of Government Officers appearing via video conferencing in exceptional circumstances as deemed necessary by the Court.

The Court set aside the part of the Calcutta High Court's order that mandated the personal attendance of the Jurisdictional Superintendent of Police (SP) without providing adequate justification for requiring such presence.

“We further find that the reasons recorded by the High Court for directing the personal presence of the jurisdictional superintendent of Police cannot be said to be exceptional or rare.”, the court said.

The Court emphasized the significance of courts documenting the reasons necessitating the personal appearance of government officers.

In the case of State of Uttar Pradesh Vs. Manoj Kumar Sharma, the Supreme Court strongly objected to the prevalent practice among High Courts of routinely summoning government officers for personal appearances. The Court emphasized that such summonses should only be issued when truly necessary, avoiding unnecessary burden on the officers.

“we feel, it is time to reiterate that public officers should not be called to court unnecessarily. The dignity and majesty of the court is not enhanced when an officer is called to court. Respect to the court has to be commanded and not demanded and the same is not enhanced by calling the public officers. The presence of public officer comes at the cost of other official engagement demanding their attention.''

Case Title: THE STATE OF WEST BENGAL VERSUS GANESH ROY