The Supreme Court in the case BS Hari Commandant vs Union of India and others observed and has made suggestions to all the Courts and the Tribunals to number paragraphs in all the orders and judgements.
The bench comprising of Justice Krishna Murari and Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah in the case observed and has made the said observations in a judgement wherein it has been noted by the court that the impugned judgment passed by the High Court was not being numbered paragraph-wise.
The bench in the case also referred to the judgement in the case Shakuntala Shukla v State of Uttar Pradesh and the case State Bank of India v Ajay Kumar Sood, wherein the need for writing of the samples and the lucid judgments was emphasised.
The court in the observed in the case in State Bank of India v Ajay Kumar Sood, wherein the court stated that it being useful for all judgments to carry paragraph numbers as the same allows for ease of reference and wherein enhancing the structure for improving the readability and the accessibility of the judgments. Thus, the Table of Contents in a longer version assisting access to the reader.
The bench while referring to these precedents observed and has stated that it being desirable that all Courts and Tribunals as the matter of practice, the number of paragraphs in all the Orders and Judgments passed in seriatim, wherein factoring the judgments given afore-extracted.
The bench while considering the facts and circumstances of the case stated that the Secretary-General of the Supreme Court to circulate this judgement given to the Registrars General of all High Courts in order to place the same before the Chief Justices for considering the adoption of a uniform format for Judgments and Orders, including paragraphing.
Further, the bench in the case also suggested that the Chief Justices may accordingly direct the Courts and the Tribunals subordinate to their High Courts.
