The Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association (SCAORA) has expressed concerns to the Secretary General of the Supreme Court about the procedures for Filing, Registration, and Listing of cases, Online Appearances, and Letter Circulations.

SCAORA Secretary Nikhil Jain forwarded a representation signed by 137 Advocates on Record (AORs) to the Secretary General of the Supreme Court, highlighting the following issues:

(1) Lack of timely notifications and delays in the defect rectification process: This includes delays by the Registry in addressing defects after an online filing is submitted and a diary number is generated. It also highlights other procedural delays in the verification of the filed matter.

(2) Lack of timely updates and delays in uploading scanned copies of the paperbooks: The Advocates on Record (AORs) have noted that scanned copies of paperbooks are either uploaded to the e-portal with significant delays or not uploaded at all, often accompanied by a message indicating that the scanned paperbooks are unavailable.

(3) Deletion of matters scheduled for returnable dates or listed in advance: The Advocates on Record (AORs) have observed that matters specifically directed for hearing are frequently not listed on their scheduled dates or are added to the supplementary list at the last minute.

Similarly, many matters listed in the advance or weekly lists are either not included in the final list or are not listed in the sequence shown in these advance/weekly lists, leading to additional uncertainties regarding the scheduling of cases.

The AoRs stress the need for “standard operating procedure is outlined for ensuring that the matters shown ni advance list/weekly list follow a set- sequence, all the parties concerned will have a better idea of matters which are likely to be listed and heard, thereby ensuring that no adjournments are sought on account of sudden/out-of-turn listings.”

Additionally, the Advocates on Record (AORs) request the following: (1) that the online appearance portal be accessible to AORs until lunchtime to facilitate appearances; and (2) that letter circulation be allowed so that genuine cases where matters cannot be taken up are presented to the Hon'ble Court, thus preventing inconvenience to stakeholders who otherwise have to review files.