Why is the SC stressing on numbering paragraphs in all court orders and judgements?

A bench of Justices Krishna Murari and Ahsanuddin Amanullah made this suggestion while in a judgment in a service case involving a Commandant in the Border Security Force. The case was an appeal against a 2010 ruling of the Punjab and Haryana High Court which was “not numbered paragraph-wise.”

“It is desirable that all Courts and Tribunals, as a matter of practice, number paragraphs in all Orders and Judgments in seriatim, factoring in the judgments afore-extracted,” the apex court said.

The court also directed the Secretary-General of the Supreme Court to circulate its judgment to the Registrars General of all High Courts for it to be placed before their respective Chief Justices so that they consider adopting a uniform format for judgments and orders that includes paragraphing. It also said that the Chief Justices may further direct the courts and the tribunals subordinate to the High Courts to do the same.

Why does it matter?

The SC record of a case is called a “paperbook” which is often voluminous and runs into several volumes. It would have copies of all earlier court rulings, the petitions, responses by each party. Given the huge number of cases SC hears every day, judges often have only a few hours to locate the meat of a judgement that is under challenge.

Numbered paragraphs in lengthy judgments saves the court’s time. While dictating judgements in open courts, judges also refer to paragraph numbers of precedents that need to be reproduced verbatim in the judgement.

Even in a 2021 ruling had observed that it’s “useful for all judgements to carry paragraph numbers as it allows for ease of reference and enhances the structure, improving the readability and accessibility of the judgements.” Additionally, it had said that a “Table of Contents in a longer version assists access to the reader.”