The Supreme Court Rules lay down the practice and procedure of the Supreme Court. These Rules have been amended from time to time. There are also various circulars that are issued by the Supreme Court Registry which have to be adhered to by the advocates / advocates on record at the time of appearing / filing of matters before the Supreme Court. Some of such circulars also amend the Supreme Court Rules.
As such, the Notices and circulars page on the Supreme Court website (https://main.sci.gov.in/notices-circulars) is quite handy while going through the relevant circulars relating to the practice and procedure. However, the said page only includes the circulars from 2015 onwards and the circulars for the older period are not available on this page.
However, the Supreme Court Registry has prepared a compendium of all the Circulars, Guidelines and Practice directions. The earliest circular that I have seen in one of the said compendium is from 29.10.1963, i.e. almost 3 years before the 1966 Supreme Court Rules.
This compendium gives a brief history for research scholars / students and advocates to understand how the practice and procedure has evolved at the Supreme Court right from its inception.
The compendium is divided into several volumes and can be accessed at the following link – https://main.sci.gov.in/compendiumcirculars
While going through the various volumes of compendium of Circulars of the Supreme Court, I also came across a “Manual of Office Procedure on Judicial Side”. As per the disclaimer on the first page of the said Manual, “The practice directions and other information contained in the Manual are meant only for internal use and for guidance of the staff of the Supreme Court Registry, and are not enforceable in any Court of Law or any other forum. The practice directions herein are subject to change at any time.”
On a perusal of the above disclaimer, it is apparent that the said Manual was only for internal circulation for the officers of the Registry and was not for the Advocates practicing in the Supreme Court. Although it seems that that this Manual is outdated in today’s date (hence uploaded online), and various parts of it are contained in the Supreme Court Handbook on Practice and Procedure and Office Procedure, there seem to be certain aspects which may be read and a brief understanding of how the Supreme Court Registry works (as per its own internal Manual) can be taken.
The Manual is available on the following link – https://main.sci.gov.in/pdf/CGP/manual_judicial_side.pdf
