Justice delayed as Madras High Court files go missing

This aspect figures on and off at MHC with advocates running from pillar to post to either trace it or reconstruct them. In one such case, after the bench allowed a plea for condonation of delay, the writ appeal was numbered as Miscellaneous Petition (MP) No 02 of 2015. However, the said MP was not listed for hearing despite the petitioner’s counsel sending letters since 2015 with the last one being given on September 27, 2017.

Subsequently, a mention was made before the then bench comprising Justices H G Ramesh and G Jayachandran for listing the matter. Only after this, the registry stated that the case bundle is missing. The matter didn’t end there as another bout of communication and mention followed to reconstruct the bundle with three years being lost neither owing to the petitioner or advocate’s fault.

Though at the Small Causes Court, from where 55 case bundles related to motor Vehicle Accident Claims Original Petition (MCOP) had gone missing reportedly owing to professional rivalry, the incidents of missing files at HC is attributed to poor documentation standards. Justice P N Prakash, who ordered a CBCID probe into the above episode, warned, “This blood money by ambulance chasers has now taken the ugly form of a Frankenstein monster and I am afraid that it may, at any time, devour the entire judicial system before which have to press the alarm bell.”

But, Advocate PV S Giridhar, who had to rebuild a missing file, said, “The whole issue has its source in not only poor documentation standards but also a high degree of inefficiency and sheer lack of accountability on the part of the staff.”

But when asked about the instances of missing case bundles, MHC, Registrar General, R Sakthivel said, “There has been no instance of missing case bundles. It is true that cases bundles get misplaced but surely does not go missing.” The concern over either missing or misplaced files continues to grow, and the need of the hour is to fix accountability and take those responsible for either missing or misplacing case bundles to task.