Gujarat High Court pulls up Registry for not listing matters as per orders, warns of contempt of court action

The Gujarat High Court on Monday slammed its Registry for failing to list matters as ordered, and went to the extent of warning contempt action against the officials in the future..A Division Bench of Chief Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice Ashutosh J Shastri said it has noted on several occasions the fact that the Registry disobeys judicial orders and itself decides which matters are to be listed and which not."We have noticed many a times, the officials of the Registry sit in judgment over the judicial orders passed by the courts. This practice requires to be highly deprecated," CJ Kumar recorded in the order passed in a tender matter..The Bench said that when a judicial order is passed by the Court directing a matter to be listed, it is the Registry's duty to ensure that all matters are listed accordingly."We caution the Registrar Judicial to be henceforth cautious and appropriate directions be issued to the officials of the Registry to list matters as and when judicial order is passed and in compliance thereof," the CJ remarked..The Registry drew the Bench's ire after it failed to list a civil application in a tender matter along with the main petition.A private entity had challenged the tender procedure of the State through a writ petition. A civil application was also filed seeking interim relief of ensuring that the State authorities do not give up a contract to the respondent company. Another civil application was filed by the respondent company seeking a directive for completing the tender procedure and awarding it the contract.All these matters were last heard in October, when the Bench had adjourned them for further hearing today..However, when the matter was called out today, the Bench noted that the respondent company's civil application was not listed on the board.A miffed Chief Justice Kumar said, "The Registry cannot decide which matter is to be listed and which not."It subsequently ordered the Registrar (Judicial) to issue instructions and directions to all officials to ensure that matters are listed properly."Any infraction of such directions would not only result in appropriate proceedings being initiated against the erring officials on the administrative side, but this Court would also think of initiating appropriate contempt proceedings on the judicial side," Chief Justice Kumar warned.