Jammu Kashmir High Court issues directives on registry compliance and registration authority

The High Court of Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh has issued directives to improve administrative and legal procedures within its registry and local registration offices.

In a recent order, the High Court directed its Registry to ensure strict compliance with Chapter X of the High Court Rules when preparing paper books for civil and criminal cases. This follows observations of discrepancies in case record compilation that caused inconvenience to advocates. The Registrar Judicial has been tasked with overseeing this process, with the Assistant Registrar of the Digitization Section assigned direct supervisory responsibility to ensure all documents meet prescribed formats, including specific pagination and layout requirements.

Separately, Justice Rajnesh Oswal ruled that a Sub-Registrar cannot deny the registration of a revocation of Power of Attorney by advising a citizen to seek civil court remedies. The court held that the Sub-Registrar’s role is primarily ministerial and does not include adjudicating the legality of documents. The court ordered the registration of a revocation deed within seven days, rejecting arguments that administrative changes to the National Generic Document Registration System (NGDRS) or government orders had stripped the authority of its statutory jurisdiction.