PIL In Delhi High Court Seeks ‘Uniform Judicial Code’ For Common Judicial Terms, Case Registration Process Across HCs

Lawyer and BJP leader Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay has filed a public interest litigation in the Delhi High Court seeking directions for the Law Commission of India to prepare a comprehensive report on “Uniform Judicial Code” to make judicial terms, abbreviations, case records and the process of case registration uniform across high court. 

In the alternative, Upadhyay has sought for constitution of an Expert Committee for preparation of the report in consultation with other High Courts.

“Injury to citizens is extremely large because the court fees sought for similar matters and that of similar valuation in different States under the jurisdiction of different high courts are different. It must be noted that judicial equality is a matter of constitutional right, its differentiation based on the jurisdiction of courts violates the Right to Equality enshrined under Article 14 and Article 15. Moreover, it promotes regionalism, hence it is a clear violation of Articles 14-15,” the plea states.

The respondents in the PIL are Union of India through the ministries of Law & Justice, Home Affairs and Finance; Law Commission of India and Registrar General of the High Court.

The plea submits that the terminology used by different High Courts for different types of cases are not uniform which causes inconvenience not just to the general public but also to the advocates and authorities.

“Not just the terms used by them to refer to the same types of cases are different but even the abbreviations used to refer to these terms are different in case the same term is used. It is inexplicable as to why there is difference in terminologies, procedure, court fees etc. within courts when all are governed by the same laws, have the same jurisdiction and deal with the same types of cases. common terminologies highlighted to bring out the drastic difference,” the PIL reads.

Title: ASHWINI KUMAR UPADHYAY v. UNION OF INDIA & OTHERS