Allahabad HC orders probe into listing of cases

Prayagraj (UP): The Allahabad High Court has directed the registrar general (RG) to conduct a detailed inquiry and take appropriate action against those responsible for anomalies in the listing of a case by the National Informatics Centre (NIC).

Taking a serious note of this, the court also directed the RG to ensure that the persons found involved are denied access to the computer system to avoid any further mischief.

As per the rule, the second bail application is listed for hearing before the same judge, who has earlier rejected it.

However, the court took a serious note when the second bail application of one Sajjan Kumar was listed before another bench despite the court’s order to list it before this court, which had earlier rejected it.

Hearing the bail plea, Justice Samit Kumar directed that the inquiry be concluded within four weeks and its report be submitted on November 7.

“The inquiry officer will also probe the role of members of NIC, Allahabad HC, as the inquiry report shows the records had been changed without any judicial or administrative order. Thus, it brings the system in NIC under suspicion too,” the court added.

This court took serious note of the anomaly, and directed the registrar (listing) of the court to give a report within three days on how the matter was listed before another bench on September 14.

“A perusal of the report goes to show that a particular ID has been used for a feeding in the computer, which is not on the basis of any order passed in the matter. Subsequently, it appears that after the previous order (September 26), the said entry has been changed by the user of the same ID. It is really surprising to note that once an entry is made in the computer (system), how it changes after passage of sufficient time. The same appears to be with the nod of the persons concerned of NIC, High Court, Allahabad. The report further states that there have been four other instances from the same ID by which matters have been marked in other courts without any order,’ the bench observed.

–IANS