WP(MD)/28100/2024 of Shiva VR Vs The Union of India on 13 November 2026

ORDER

(Order of the Court was made by The Chief Justice) The petitioner, invoking the jurisdiction of this Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India in the nature of pro bono publico, has filed the instant writ petition seeking issuance of a writ of mandamus directing the first respondent (Union of India, Ministry of Finance) to take appropriate administrative and technical measures to ensure that web orders comprising daily proceedings, interim orders and final judgments, are uploaded by the Debts Recovery Tribunals in Tamil Nadu (Respondents 2 to 6) onto the official e-DRT web portal in a proper, standardized format and in a time-bound manner.

2.1. It is contended by learned counsel for the petitioner that while courts and tribunals across the country in the era of digitalization upload fully formatted orders carrying the court's name and emblem, full cause title, litigant/counsel names, QR codes and digital signature templates, the web orders published by the DRTs in Tamil Nadu contain only the truncated operative portions.

2.2. It is further contended that the absence of a formal cause title, presiding officer signature template and court identification only lead to external authorities, banks and financial institutions rejecting downloaded web orders, particularly interim stay orders, thereby forcing litigants to chase physical certified copies and occasionally exposing borrowers to unfair accusations of document manipulation.

2.3. It is further submitted that the registry of respective tribunals take around 10 to 15 days to issue certified copies. A formal representation was submitted to the first respondent with copies marked to respondents 2 to 6, but as no proactive uniform measures were taken, the petitioner was constrained to approach this Court.

3.1. Per contra, learned Deputy Solicitor General of India appearing on behalf of the respondents submitted that due to the heavy volume of cases, massive cause lists and daily dockets ranging from 120 to 200 cases per day before a Presiding Officer, uploading complete structured judgments for every routine daily proceeding was considered impractical and a drain on precious judicial time and, therefore, daily order sheets were restricted to operative directions and appearances, while the parties had to wait for the certified copies for full formal headings.

3.2. It is further submitted that uploading formatted orders in over 150 cases daily consumes over seven hours of registry time, more so when the registry is facing staff shortage. It is added that following infrastructural updates by NIC on the e-DRT portal and subsequent internal administrative steps, DRT-I, Chennai, DRT-III, Chennai, and DRT, Madurai have confirmed that proceedings are now actively being uploaded with the full name and emblem of the court, complete cause titles, litigant and counsel names, verification QR codes, and the Presiding Officer's signature template. DRT, Coimbatore has implemented the new expanded format for Presiding Officer and Registrar courts as of October 2026. DRT-II, Chennai has integrated verification QR codes routing directly to the e-DRT portal.

3.3. It is also submitted that the certified copy applications are processed and issued within standard operational windows, for instance 2 to 3 days in DRT-III, Chennai, and 7 to 10 days in DRT, Coimbatore, barring exceptionally bulky case files.

4. We have heard learned counsel on either side, perused the documents on record and the legal framework regulating proceedings in Debts Recovery Tribunals.

5. Rules 14 and 16 of the Debts Recovery Tribunal (Procedure) Rules, 1993, mandate that every order of the Tribunal must be in writing, signed, and dated by the Presiding Officer, and that final orders must be communicated to the parties.

6. Rule 5 of the Debts Recovery Tribunals and Debts Recovery Appellate Tribunals Electronic Filing Rules, 2020, statutorily commands tribunals to regularly upload cause lists, daily orders and final orders on the common e-DRT web portal.

7. The Debts Recovery Tribunal Regulations, 2024 mandate immediate online publication of judgments and daily orders upon pronouncement, bearing proper digital authentication across all pages.

8. The grievance initially projected by the petitioner was genuine, pointing to a systemic lag in digital standardization across DRTs in Tamil Nadu. However, the stand taken by the respondents in their counter-affidavit confirming that upgraded formats featuring complete cause titles, court emblems, QR codes and signature templates are now operational across DRT-I, DRT-II, DRT- III, Chennai; DRT, Coimbatore; and DRT Madurai, substantially addresses the core prayers sought in this writ petition.

9. Access to justice, transparency under Article 21 of the Constitution of India, and effective e-governance require that digital copies of orders available to litigants possess all requisite information so that bona fide litigants and financial institutions are not forced to needlessly endure operational hurdles or face spurious allegations of document fabrication. Since the respondent tribunals have themselves adopted and implemented remedial administrative changes to publish fully compliant web orders on the e-DRT portal, keeping this writ petition pending is no longer necessary, provided that such compliance is maintained continuously.

10. In light of the compliance steps detailed in the counter- affidavit filed by the respondents and the statutory mandates under the e-DRT Electronic Filing Rules, 2020 and DRT Regulations, 2024, this writ petition is disposed of requesting the Chairperson of the Debt Recovery Appellate Tribunal, Chennai, who has the general power of superintendence and control over the Tribunals under his jurisdiction as per Section 17-A of the Recovery of Debts and Bankruptcy Act, 1993, to ensure the following:

(i) Respondents 2 to 6 shall strictly continue the upgraded practice of uploading all final judgments, interim orders and daily proceedings onto the official e-DRT web portal in the standardized format, incorporating the court name/emblem, complete cause titles, appearing counsels, verification QR codes and proper signature templates, without reverting to truncated or unverified text blocks.

(ii) The respondent tribunals shall ensure that web orders and daily proceedings are uploaded in a time-bound manner, in compliance with the statutory provisions, referred to supra.

(iii) Applications for certified copies filed by litigants shall continue to be processed expeditiously within the stipulated service timelines, ensuring that statutory appellate remedies before the Debts Recovery Appellate Tribunal (DRAT) are not impeded by administrative delays. The Writ Petition is disposed of with the aforesaid directions. No costs. (SUSHRUT ARVIND DHARMADHIKARI, C.J.) (P.VELMURUGAN J.) 13-11-2026 Index : Yes/No Neutral Citation : Yes/No Note to Registry: Mark a copy of this order to the Chairperson, Debt Recovery Appellate Tribunal, Chennai, through the Registrar concerned. VSM/sasi

To

1. The Union of India Represented by the Secretary to Government Ministry of Finance Department of Economic Affairs (Banking Division) North Block New Delhi

2. The Registrar Debt Recovery Tribunal Chennai - I Shastri Bhavan Nungambakkam Chennai - 600 008

3. The Registrar Debt Recovery Tribunal Chennai - II Shastri Bhavan Nungambakkam Chennai - 600 008

4. The Registrar Debt Recovery Tribunal Chennai - III Shastri Bhavan Nungambakkam Chennai - 600 008

5. The Registrar Debt Recovery Tribunal Coimbatore Head Quarters Road Gopalapuram Coimbatore - 641 018

6. The Registrar Debt Recovery Tribunal - Madurai Kalyani Towers Ring Road Uthangudi Madurai - 625 107

SUSHRUT ARVIND DHARMADHIKARI, C.J. AND P.VELMURUGAN, J. VSM/sasi WP(MD) No. 28100 of 2024 13-11-2026