Orissa High Court Issues Standing Order Instructing Lawyers To Desist From Pleading Law & Case Laws In Counter Affidavits

The Orissa High Court has passed a Standing Order instructing lawyers to desist from pleading laws in the counter affidavits so also to refrain from quoting therein the precedents/observations made by Courts.

The Standing Order came as a corollary to an order passed by the Apex Court on July 8, 2024 in Jaiki Singh v. Shrawan Sharma & Anr., wherein it had cautioned the lawyers against preparing bulky and unnecessarily lengthy counter affidavits by superficially pleading points of law and quoting case laws.

“Before we part with this order, we may note that there is a growing tendency to plead law in the counter affidavits and to quote the decisions of this Court. It is elementary that law need not be pleaded in the pleadings. A counter affidavit should not be made bulky and lengthy by quoting decisions of this Court. We hope and trust that the State Government will take notice of this observation,” top Court had observed.

Pursuant to such direction, the High Court issued the Standing Order informing and instructing the Advocates to take note of the settled yet basic principle of pleading and not to make their counters needlessly bulky.

Click Here To Read/Download Order