The Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association (SCAORA) has raised strong objections to the Registry’s recent practice of sending automated SMS and email alerts to respondents immediately after fresh matters are filed, even in the absence of a caveat or judicial direction.

In a letter addressed to the Supreme Court Registry, SCAORA's Honorary Secretary Nikhil Jain urged that the mandatory requirement of furnishing respondents’ contact details during the filing of new matters be discontinued. He further requested an immediate halt to the automatic alerts being sent out without a judicial order.

According to the Association, the current system obliges advocates to provide mobile numbers and email addresses of respondents in the Listing Proforma as well as on the e-filing portal. This, SCAORA contends, leads to respondents receiving premature notifications from the Registry, even before they have formally entered appearance or filed a caveat.

Highlighting procedural concerns, the Association stated that this practice violates the Supreme Court Rules, 2013, which require that respondents be notified only after a judicial order or when a caveat has been filed. The automated alert system, it argued, undermines judicial discretion and renders the mechanisms of caveats and formal notice redundant.

“This practice constitutes a significant departure from the established procedure under the Supreme Court Rules, 2013,” the letter states. “It pre-empts judicial directions and compromises the intended safeguards built into the process.”

SCAORA also expressed apprehension over the implications of such alerts in sensitive matters, where premature disclosure to the opposing party could be procedurally unfair and potentially prejudicial.

The letter proposes that if contact details must be collected for administrative purposes, then such information should not be used to send alerts unless the respondent has filed a caveat or formally appeared through an Advocate-on-Record after receiving valid service of notice.

Concluding its representation, SCAORA emphasized that the suggested corrective measures would realign the Registry’s practices with the Supreme Court Rules and uphold the procedural rights of litigants.