Senior Advocates Mukul Rohatgi, KV Viswanathan and V Mohana informed a Bench of Justices Krishna Murari and Sanjay Karol in the recent case of Ravindra Shah v. State of Maharashtra that the inadvertent mention of a lawyer's name as "Put Mine" on official records was due to an unintentional mistake by the clerk of the lawyer whose name was to appear in the order. The clerk had asked the lawyer on WhatsApp whose name he should add for the appearance slip, and after the lawyer replied "put mine," the clerk mistakenly added the same on the slip.
The inadvertent mention of a lawyer's name as "Put Mine" on official records caused the Supreme Court to initiate suo motu proceedings. The Court was investigating the matter after its earlier order stated that "Mr. Put Mine, Advocate" had appeared in the case. Senior Advocates Mukul Rohatgi, KV Viswanathan, and V Mohana informed the Court that the clerk had asked the lawyer whose name to add for the appearance slip, and the lawyer replied with "put mine." However, the clerk mistakenly added the same name on the slip. Based on these facts, the Court concluded that there was no malicious intent on the part of the lawyer, clerk, or court officer.
In its recent ruling, the Supreme Court acknowledged that the misrecording of an advocate's name as "Put Mine" on official records had caused considerable embarrassment to the court, given its wide circulation on social media. However, the court accepted the apology tendered by the Advocate-on-Record, who was a young practitioner, and concluded that there was no malice or ill intent on the part of the lawyer, the clerk, or the court officer. The court further clarified that no further action against any of the parties involved was necessary, as the error was an unintentional mistake and had been duly apologized for. As a result, the court closed proceedings on both the judicial and administrative fronts.
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TAGS: Supreme Court lawyer "Put Mine" mistake clerk unintentional mistake no mala fide intention suo motu proceedings embarrassment social media apology no further action.
