In a recent ruling, the Supreme Court expressed disapproval of the practice of submitting extensive synopses. The court was dealing with a Special Leave Petition and took note of the fact that the petitioner had submitted a bulky synopsis spanning over 60 pages, while the impugned order was only 5 pages long. As a result of this disproportionate filing, the Supreme Court imposed a penalty of Rs. 25,000 on the petitioner.

The division bench of Justice Abhay S. Oka and Justice Pankaj Mithal ordered, "There is an application filed by the petitioner for seeking permission to file a lengthy synopsis and list of dates. The impugned order runs into 5 pages. However, the synopsis is of more than 60 pages which was uncalled for in the facts of the case. Therefore, we reject the application and while we do so, we direct the petitioner to pay costs of Rs.25,000/- by way of a donation to any institution carrying out charitable work. "

Initially, the Court imposed a cost of Rs. 5,000/- on the Advocate-on-Record (AoR). However, following the counsel's argument that the Petition had been filed based on the client's instructions and that imposing even a nominal cost on an AoR could set an undesirable precedent, the Bench opted to imposed burden onto the petitioner instead.

Case Brief -

In the said matter, the Court was adjudicating the case of Sandeep Kumar Garg, charged under Sections 406, 409, 420, 467, 468, 471, and 120(B) of the IPC and had challenged the Allahabad High Court's decision to deny him anticipatory bail. The Allahabad High Court in its 5-page order noted that the present case does not fall within the category of being of civil nature only and consequently denied grant of anticipatory bail.

During the proceedings, the High Court also observed that the petitioner had a criminal record consisting of five cases, and in none of these cases had the petitioner been granted bail or release. Consequently, the petitioner's criminal history remained unexplained.

On the Medical Groungs, the Apex Court issued a stay of arrest. However, the Court expressed its disapproval of the lengthy 60-page synopsis, deeming it unnecessary for the circumstances of the case. Consequently, the Court instructed the petitioner to make a charitable donation of Rs. 25,000/- to an institution engaged in charitable activities and further required the petitioner to provide proof of the donation receipt before the upcoming hearing.

Case Title - SANDEEP KUMAR GARG vs THE STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH & ANR

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