# PREPARATION, PRESERVATION AND DESTRUCTION OF RECORDS

- **Citation:** C.L. No. 3/VIII
- **Court:** Allahabad High Court
- **Decided:** 1951-01-11
- **Case number:** C.L. No. 3/VIII
- **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/allahabad-high-court/preparation-preservation-and-destruction-of-records-163744
- **Pages:** 1

## Text

432

Orders fixing dates or adjourned dates for hearing or directing anything to be
done by the parties or their pleaders shall be signed immediately by the parties or their
pleaders.
6.
PREPARATION, PRESERVATION AND DESTRUCTION OF RECORDS
(i)
Paging and maintenance of record
C.L. No. 3/VIII h-21-51 dated 11th January, 1951

Papers in the lower court files used to be arranged and numbered from right to left
obviously, because the papers in the files used to be Urdu. But now since the court
language is Hindi the papers in the files should be numbered from left to right. No change
need be made in pending cases.
C.L. No. 10 dated 21st March, 1967

Assistants concerned should take care and precaution while stitching the records
so that original documents like sale deeds, mortgage deeds, etc. forming part of the
record are not torn, mutilated or damaged in any way.
C.L. No. 42/VII-d-65 dated 18th March, 1971
Instructions regarding proper maintenance of records as contained in Chapters V
and VII of General Rules (Civil) and Chapters IV and XI of General Rules (Criminal)
should strictly be followed.
C.L. No. 85/VIII b-37 dated 9th December, 1985

Attention of all the presiding officers is invited to the provisions of rule 4 and rule
13 of order XIII, Civil Procedure Code as well as to the provision of rule 57, General
Rules (Civil), 1957. These provisions as to the endorsement and marking of documents
must be strictly followed by the trial courts, while preparing records of the civil and
criminal cases.

The trial courts must exercise greater care in regard to the maintenance of the
records.
(ii)
Small Cause cases transferred and tried as regular suits
C.L. No. 81/VIII b-65 dated 25th July, 1952

When a small cause court case is transferred to another court and tried as a regular
suit, files B, C and D should be prepared as is done in other regular suits. But when the
records of such cases are consigned to the record room, they may be kept in the bastas of
small cause court cases to enable them to get more easily traced and to avoid the
confusion that may result from there being two regular suits bearing one and the same
number.

The period of destruction of such files should be the same as for those of regular
suits, viz. twenty years for file B, fifteen years for file C and three years for file D. To
prevent the possibility of file B of such cases being wrongly weeded out before the due
date, a label containing the date of destruction of each file in bold letters should be
affixed to the wrapper of each such record.