Order III of the Supreme Court Rules, 2013: Officers of the Court
Order III governs the administrative functions of the Secretary General and Registrar, custody and use of the Court seal, publication of case lists and certain powers relating to filings and proceedings before the Supreme Court of India.
The Supreme Court Rules, 2013 regulate the Court's practice and procedure under Article 145 of the Constitution of India, which empowers the Supreme Court, with the approval of the President and subject to parliamentary law, to make rules governing its practice and procedure. The explanations below follow the provisions reproduced in this article; for subsequent amendments and current administrative directions, consult the official rules and notices.
Who are Officers of the court etc? Order III of Supreme Court Rules 2013
Rules 1 to 6: Secretary General, delegation and official seal
1. The Secretary General shall have the custody of the records of the Court and shall exercise such other functions as are assigned to him by these rules.
2. The Chief Justice may assign, and the Secretary General, may, with the approval of the Chief Justice, delegate, to an Additional Registrar, Deputy Registrar or Assistant Registrar, any function required by these rules to be exercised by the Registrar.
3. In the absence of the Secretary General, the functions of the Secretary General may be exercised by the Registrar nominated by the Chief Justice.
4. The official seal to be used in the Court shall be such as the Chief Justice may from time to time direct, and shall be kept in the custody of the Secretary General.
5 Subject to any general or special directions given by the Chief Justice, the seal of the Court shall not be affixed to any writ, rule, order, summons or other process save under the authority in writing of the Secretary General or the Registrar nominated by the Chief Justice.
6. The seal of the Court shall not be affixed to any certified copy issued by the Court save under the authority in writing of the Secretary General or of a Registrar, Additional Registrar, Deputy Registrar or Assistant Registrar.
Rule 7: Terminal, weekly, daily and advance cause lists
7. (1) The Registrar shall keep a list of all cases pending before the Court, and shall, at the commencement of each term, prepare and publish on the notice board/website of the Court a list of all cases ready for hearing in each class separately, to be called the "terminal list". The cases 10 the "terminal list" shall be arranged year wise in each class separately in the order of their registration, and the list shall be updated from time to time,
(2) From out of the "terminal list" the Registrar shall publish on the notice board/website of the Court at the end of each week a list of cases to be heard in the following week as far as possible in the order in which they appear in terminal list, subject to the directions of the Chief Justice and of the Court, if any, and out of the weekly list shall publish at the end of each day a daily list of cases to be heard by the Court on the following day.
In addition, the Registrar shall publish Advance List of miscellaneous matters. From the Advance List, matters will be taken up in Daily List for miscellaneous matters.
Subject to general or special orders of Chief Justice, the Registrar shall publish such other lists as may be directed; list matters as may be directed and in such order as may be directed.
Rule 8: Powers and duties of the Registrar
8. In addition to the powers conferred by other rules, the Registrar shall have the following duties and powers subject to any general or special order of the Chief Justice, namely.-
(i) to require any plaint petition of appeal, petition or other proceeding presented to the Court to be amended in accordance with the practice and procedure of the Court or to be represented after such requisition as the Registrar is empowered to make in relation thereto has been complied with;
(il) to fix the date of hearing of appeals petitions or other proceedings and Issue notices thereof,
(iii) to settle the index in cases where the record is prepared in the Court.
(iv) to make an order for change of advocate-on-record with the consent of the advocate-on-record.
(v) to direct any formal amendment of record;
(vi) to grant leave to inspect and search the records of the Court and order the grant of copies of documents to parties to proceeding without interfering or dispensing with any mandatory requirement of these rules;
(vii) to allow from time to time on a written request any period or periods not exceeding twenty eight days in aggregate for furnishing information or for doing any other act necessary to bring the plaint, appeal, petition or other proceeding in conformity with the rules and practice of the Court:
Practical meaning of the provisions
Secretary General: The principal officer responsible under these rules for custody of the Court's records and the official seal. Functions may be exercised through designated officers in the circumstances specified by the Rules.
Registrar: An officer entrusted with administrative and procedural responsibilities, including publication of cause lists, scrutiny-related directions, scheduling notices, inspection and copying permissions, and certain formal changes to records. Such functions remain subject to the Chief Justice's directions and the Court's orders.
Terminal list and cause list: A terminal list identifies cases ready for hearing, while weekly, daily and advance lists organise matters for hearing, subject to applicable directions. Litigants should check the Court's current official website for live listing information.
Defects in filing: Under the reproduced Rule 8(vii), a written request may be allowed for periods not exceeding 28 days in aggregate to complete specified filing requirements. Where defects communicated after scrutiny remain unremoved for 90 days, the matter is to be listed with an office report before the Judge in Chambers for appropriate orders. These periods do not automatically extend any substantive statutory limitation period.
Scope of reproduction: The uploaded source ends during Rule 8(vii). It does not reproduce the remainder of Order III. For the complete authoritative wording, consult the official Supreme Court Rules.