The Registry of the High Court
By MR. JUSTICE B. B. MISRA
High Court, Allahabad
The Registry is a vital and integral part of a High Court which  is a Court of Record. The officer, under whose control the Registry works, is known as the Registrar. Provision for Registry of the High Court was made in Clause 6 of the Letters Patent; and the term used therein is 'Clerk'. That explains as to why the Registrar was defined as the Clerk of the Court in the High Court Rules prior to the coming into force of the existing Rules of Court, 1952.

It is interesting to note that formerly the term 'Register' was used for the present expression 'Registrar'. A few days before the Sadar Diwani Adalat was replaced by the High Court of the North- Western Provinces, the Sadar Court Judges in their official memorial of thanks presented to the Registrar referred to him as 'Register'.

Registrar is the pivot around which the office of the Court moves. He is the Head of the Court's office and responsible for the proper discharge of the administrative functions of the Court, which include, inter alia, maintenance of the personal files of the officers belonging to the Judicial Service of the State, their postings and transfers, framing and amending the rules of procedure for the High Court as well as the subordinate civil courts, issuing of General and Circular Letters containing directions for the subordinate civil courts, administration of budget grants for the High Court and subordinate civil courts, maintenance of statistics of work done in the High Court and subordinate courts and the preparation of annual reports on the Administration of Justice in the State. The Registrar also exercises powers of appointment and promotion in respect of the non-gazetted staff of the Court, which have been delegated to him by the Hon'ble the Chief Justice.

The Registrar also exercises certain functions and powers in relation to judicial proceedings, e. g., receiving the memorandum of appeals and plaints, bringing on record the legal representatives of deceased parties provided no question of abatement or limitation arises, disposing of uncontested applications under Order XXII of the Code of Civil Procedure, sending the decrees and orders passed by the Court to other Courts for execution, and so on. In exercise of his judicial functions he also directs notice to issue on applications under section 66(2) or (3) of the Income-Tax Act and under section 11 of the U. P. Sales Tax Act.

In his various functions the Registrar is assisted by Joint Registrar, Deputy Registrars and Assistant Registrars.

The Registrar is appointed by the Hon'ble the Chief Justice from among the District Judges and holds office during the pleasure of the Chief Justice.

Mr. J. Simson of the Bengal Civil Service became the first Registrar of this High Court and remained so till March, 1867. The available records do not show as to who succeeded him and worked as such before Mr. William Tyrell who took over as Registrar on 18th December, 1868. It is not known as to from which source the Registrars were drawn from time to time; but it appears that up to 22nd February, 1898, this post was held by the members of the Civil Service. Thereafter, up to 18th March, 1928, all the Registrars were appointed from the Indian Civil Service. Of the above, mention may be made of two, namely, Mr. William Tyrell and Mr. Benjamin Lindsay, who were subsequently elevated to the Bench.

Till then, the post of the Registrar was a superior post in the Indian Civil Service Cadre and was reserved for the Indian Civil Service. However, the Governor-in-Council could appoint another person to that post up to a period of one year; but, for a period exceeding one year, the sanction of the Secretary of State had to be obtained. In 1934, the Secretary of State amended the Superior Civil Service Rules, under which the post of the Registrar ceased to be a superior post in the Indian Civil Service Cadre and it was ordered that that post was not reserved for the members of the Indian Civil Service and that it could be filled either by a member of the Indian Civil Service or by a member of the Provincial Civil Service.

The first member of the Provincial Civil Service to be appointed Registrar was Dr. L. D. Joshi. He was appointed to officiate as Registrar in 1920 beyond a year with the approval of the Secretary of State, which was obtained from time to time. He thus occupied that post for more than ten years, from February 2, 1929 to February 18, 1939.

Thereafter, the Registrars were again appointed from the members of the Indian Civil Service, the last of them being Mr. Jagat Narain, who worked from September 8, 1952 to November 13, 1953. Of them, three, namely Mr. W. Broome, Mr. D. S. Mathur and Mr. B. N. Nigam, are adorning the Bench of this Court, while Mr. Jagat Narain is a Judge of the Rajasthan High Court.

By November 1953, the U. P. Higher Judicial Service Rules were finalised, whereby the post of Registrar was reserved for a member of that service. The three members of that service, who held that post and were subsequently raised to the Bench, are Sri K. P. Mathur, Sri Mahesh Chandra and Sri S. D. Khare. Sri K. P. Mathur retired in 1963 and is now holding the post of Vigilance Commissioner in the State of Assam and the rest two are still adorning the Bench of this Court. The writer of these lines held the post of Registrar from 17th July, 1963 to 10th April, 1967. The present Registrar, Sri R. P. Dikshit, took over on the 11th April, 1967.

LIST OF REGISTRARS OF THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD

1866-1967