SC orders registrar to lodge police complaint over fabrication of its order

The Supreme Court has directed the court’s registrar to lodge a police complaint after taking note of an internal inquiry report which said one of its orders, which was annexed with a pending petition, was fabricated. A bench comprising justices A S Oka and Pankaj Mithal perused the report of the Registrar (Judicial Listing) and said it was “obvious” that the document purported to be a copy of an order of this court was “fabricated”.

“Therefore, the Registrar (Judicial Listing) must set the criminal law in motion by lodging a complaint with the jurisdictional police station,” the bench said on Tuesday. It directed the officer in-charge of the police station concerned to submit a report to the court about the investigation within two months. The court, which had earlier issued notices to the advocates concerned, noted, “Though notice was issued to Prity Mishra, advocate for examining her role, she has chosen not to appear before this court today.” It is for the police to examine the role allegedly played by the advocate, it said, adding the apex court registrar shall also submit a copy of its order along with the annexures to police. The bench has fixed the case for considering the police report on December 1. Earlier, the apex court had ordered an internal inquiry after noticing that two different orders, passed by the same bench in a matter, were filed with a petition.

“The first order is of dismissal and the second order is of allowing the SLP. We direct the Registrar (Judicial) to hold an inquiry into this aspect and submit a report to this court by September 20, 2023. If the Registrar (Judicial) finds that this is a case of fabrication of orders of this court, it follows that the criminal law will have to be set in motion,” the bench had said in its August 22 order. It had issued notices to lawyers concerned – Mishra and Aftab Ali Khan – and complainant Lokesh Madanmohan Agarwal.