'Disgusting, filthy practice': Allahabad HC orders registry to refuse documents with saliva spots

Allahabad High Court

The Allahabad High Court has come down heavily on the unhygienic practice of filing petitions and applications with visible saliva stains. In an order dated September 22, Justice Shree Prakash Singh expressed strong disapproval, terming it both “disgusting and condemnable".

“Prior to deal with this matter, this Court has observed since morning that in more than ten petitions/ applications, reddish colour saliva is used for turning over the pages of the paper book, before placing it to this Court,” the judge noted, according to a report by Bar and Bench.

The report said that the order further observed that such use of saliva could have happened “at certain level, like the stage of filing of paper book/ petitions/ applications, either by the Clerk, Oath Commissioner or the Officers/ Officials, who are dealing with the matter in the Registry and in the Office of GA and CSC.”

Highlighting the risks, the Court cautioned, “If such kind of filthy practice is not stopped, the same will cause some infection among the persons who come into the contact with such papers. Therefore, this is not tolerable at any cost.”

To curb this, the Court directed that the Registry should refuse to accept any paper book or application showing saliva spots. “To prevent such practice, the Senior Registrar and the In-charge Registry including the Officials deployed therewith are directed to ensure that while filing the paper book/ petitions/ applications, this shall be carefully examined and ensured that no paper having such SALIVA SPOT of any kind be entertained or accepted by the Registry,” the order made clear.

The responsibility was also extended beyond the Registry. Both the Government Advocate and the Chief Standing Counsel were instructed to issue written directions to restrain the continuation of such practices.

The judge underlined that more than ten such instances had been found in a single day, and that the use of “reddish colour saliva” on court papers could no longer be tolerated.