SUPREME COURT ASKS MADRAS HIGH COURT TO TAKE CORRECTIVE MEASURES: TWO ORDERS IN SAME CASE; DIFFERENT VERSION UPLOADED IN WEBSITE

In the case at hand, the Supreme Court ordered the Madras High Court to take corrective action and found it “strange” that the order, which was uploaded to the Madras High Court’s website, was found to be different from the order that the court had initially announced. , , When the discrepancy was brought to the court’s attention in September 2022, the Supreme Court requested a report from the Madras High Court Registry, deeming the situation “unusual.” The Registrar-General of the High Court has also submitted a report to the Supreme Court in sealed cover. The bench, comprised of Justices Ajay Rastogi and Bela Trivedi, observed and recorded their satisfaction with the justification provided on January 23. The details of the order were not recorded by the bench. , , In accordance with this court’s order, the bench stated that it has been,, submitted by the Registrar General of the High Court in his report dated 10.11.2022, which is being placed for our review. As a result, the said court has gone through the report and recorded our satisfaction with the justification, which was tendered in the passing of the order on 01.09.2022, to which the court has made reference in our order dated 23.09.2022, and has left it to the High Court to take the appropriate and necessary corrective measures that are required in the interest of justice. Therefore, the counsel, appearing for the petitioners, had produced before the Top Court the two different versions of the same order being passed by the division bench in the same matter. It has been observed by the court that during the hearing held on September 23, 2022, Senior Advocate K. Subramanian appeared on behalf of the petitioner, wherein it is alleged that the initial order was later deleted and uploaded in its place. The lawyer also claimed that the operative portion, in which the court directed the respondent to deposit Rs 115 crores in Indian Bank, Annanagar, and Chennai Trust, was deleted. , , The bench was confounded by the said development; the bench headed by Justice Rastogi had commented that, in our 40 years of experience, this court has not seen anything like this. Accordingly, the Supreme Court set aside the order and asked the High Court to take a fresh decision while maintaining an earlier status quo order passed in the said matter.