The Supreme Court on Monday (October 14) expressed concerns over registration of bail application in a money laundering case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) before the scheduled date, in violation of his previous order.

A bench comprising Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Augustine George Masih is focusing on how the case was listed before the court’s decision.

Justice Oka observed: “A person in custody tries to register a case in this way, we have to be very careful about it.»

The Court observed that an explanation from the registry, requested in an earlier order, was still not on file. After the appellant’s lawyer argued that the appellant had been in custody for a long time, Justice Oka will have to examine who played a role in changing the list.

“We need to look at this: how dates are set in advance without this court intervening. We don’t move forward until we are convinced we know who played a role in all of this.“, he said.

The court ordered the Registry to ensure that the explanation of the registration branch was submitted to the Court on the following Monday. The office’s report, which referred to the explanation, was noted, but the Court emphasized that the explanation itself had not been submitted.

In its order, the Court stated: “The bureau’s report refers to the explanations provided by the listing branch. The same is not recorded. The Registry will ensure that the explanation is presented to this court next Monday.”

On September 20, the Court had sought an explanation from its registry for registering the bail application before the scheduled date of October 14, contrary to its earlier instructions. During this hearing, Judge Oka expressed his concerns about possible manipulation of the registration process, remarking: “Someone goes to the register and manipulates, we will not tolerate that. As far as this judiciary is concerned, we have taken the register to task on numerous occasions.

The Supreme Court has repeatedly expressed its dissatisfaction with the functioning of its registry. In previous cases, the Court has criticized the registry for failing to list cases in accordance with court orders. In August, a bench comprising Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Augustine George Masih had sought an explanation why a case was not listed as ordered by the Court. Similar concerns have been raised in other cases, with the Registry being called out for procedural flaws.

Case No. – SLP (Crl.) No. 9374/2024

Case Title – Zeeshan Haider v. Execution Directorate