Supreme Court Asks All Courts & Tribunals To Number Paragraphs In Orders & Judgments

The Supreme Court has made a suggestion to all Courts and Tribunals to number paragraphs in all orders and judgments. A bench comprising Justices Krishna Murari and Ahsanuddin Amanullah made this observation in a judgment after noting that the impugned judgment of the High Court was not numbered paragraph-wise.

In this context, the bench referred to the judgments in Shakuntala Shukla v State of Uttar Pradesh LL 2021 SC 422 and State Bank of India v Ajay Kumar Sood 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 710 where the need for writing simple and lucid judgments was emphasised.

"It is also useful for all judgments to carry paragraph numbers as it allows for ease of reference and enhances the structure, improving the readability and accessibility of the judgments. A Table of Contents in a longer version assists access to the reader", the Court had observed in State Bank of India v Ajay Kumar Sood.

Referring to these precedents, the bench in the instant case observed :

"It is desirable that all Courts and Tribunals, as a matter of practice, number paragraphs in all Orders and Judgments in seriatim, factoring in the judgments afore-extracted"

The bench further directed the Secretary-General of the Supreme Court to circulate this judgement to the Registrars General of all High Courts, to place the same before the Chief Justices, to consider adoption of a uniform format for Judgments and Orders, including paragraphing. The Chief Justices may direct the Courts and Tribunals subordinate to their High Courts accordingly as well, the bench further suggested.

Case Title : BS Hari Commandant vs Union of India and others

Citation : 2023 LiveLaw (SC) 303

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