The Supreme Court granted interim protection to the petitioner, while directing a discreet inquiry into the delayed uploading of a Punjab and Haryana High Court order dated July 31, 2025. The Division Bench comprising Justice J.K. Maheshwari and Justice Vijay Bishnoi directed that no coercive steps be taken against the petitioner in connection with FIR No. 155 of 2025, subject to his cooperation in the investigation.
The proceedings were initiated with the filing of the instant special leave petition on August 16, 2025, accompanied by an application seeking permission to file it without a certified or plain copy of the impugned order, as the order dated July 31, 2025 had not been uploaded on the website of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. When the matter was taken up for consideration on August 20, 2025, it was noted that the order rejecting anticipatory bail had still not been uploaded even after twenty days, leading the Court to call for a report from the Registrar General of the High Court.
From the report submitted by the Registrar General, several facts emerged. It was revealed that the order impugned was dated July 31, 2025, and up to August 20, 2025, it was not uploaded. The Registrar General sought explanation after two days, on 22.08.2025, from the Secretary of the Judge, and the Secretary responded on 22.08.2025, but the Registrar General sent a report on 25.08.2025. The Court noted that immediate action in the matter to report at the earliest was not taken and that the Secretary had not replied when the order was uploaded except to say that the Judge was undergoing some medical procedure and surgery between 01.08.2025 to 20.08.2025.
On the date the explanation was submitted by the Secretary, the order was uploaded, and this fact was mentioned by him. It was observed by the Court that the impugned order does not appear to have been passed on July 31, 2025, but in fact was passed only after the order of this Court.
Accordingly, the Supreme Court directed that the steno book of the Secretary be seized to ascertain the date on which the impugned order was typed and corrected., and that a discreet inquiry be held, and the report of P.C. from NIC be collected regarding typing and uploading and the same be filed on affidavit. Notice was directed to be issued to the State of Haryana, returnable in four weeks, while service on the complainant was waived as his counsel had already entered appearance.
Appearances:
Petitioner: Mr. Siddharth Agarwal, Sr. Adv.; Mr. Ankit Sibbal, Adv.; Mr. Rohitt Kumar Yadav, Adv.; Mr. Ashish Batra, Adv.
For Complainant: Mr. Nipun Katyal, Adv.; Mr. Suchakshu Jain, Adv.; Mr. Madhakant Bhatia, Adv.; Mr. Dhananjay Kumar, Adv.; Mr. Surya Pratap Singh Rana, Adv.; Mr. Manan Sharma, Adv.; Mr. Rahul Sachdeva, Adv.; Mr. Shashank Shekhar, Adv.
For High Court of Punjab and Haryana: Mr. Kabir Hathi, Adv.; Mr. Rahul Gupta, Adv.
