Shiva VR vs The Union of India
- Court
- Madras High Court
WP(MD) No. 28100 of 2024
BEFORE THE MADURAI BENCH OF MADRAS HIGH COURT
DATED: 13-11-2026
CORAM
THE HON'BLE MR.SUSHRUT ARVIND DHARMADHIKARI,
CHIEF JUSTICE
AND
THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE P.VELMURUGAN
WP(MD) No. 28100 of 2024
CNR:{HCMD011252432024}
Shiva VR
S/o. Veerappan. SM,
FF 101, Vignesh Anchitha,
Veereshwaram Srirangam,
Trichy - 620 006.
..Petitioner
Vs
1. The Union of India
Represented by the Secretary to Government,
Ministry of Finance,
Department of Economic Affairs,
(Banking Division) North Block,
New Delhi.
2. The Registrar
Debt Recovery Tribunal,
Chennai - I,
Shastri Bhavan,
Nungambakkam,
Chennai - 600 008.
3. The Registrar
Debt Recovery Tribunal,
Chennai - II,
Shastri Bhavan,
Nungambakkam,
Chennai - 600 008.
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4. The Registrar
Debt Recovery Tribunal,
Chennai - III,
Shastri Bhavan,
Nungambakkam,
Chennai - 600 008.
5. The Registrar
Debt Recovery Tribunal,
Coimbatore,
Head Quarters Road,
Gopalapuram,
Coimbatore - 641 018.
6. The Registrar
Debt Recovery Tribunal - Madurai,
Kalyani Towers,
Ring Road,
Uthangudi,
Madurai - 625 107.
..Respondents
PRAYER: Writ Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of
st
India, praying this Court to issue a Writ of Mandamus, directing the 1
respondent to take appropriate measures to ensure that the Web Orders
are being uploaded by the respondent 2 - 6 in the Web Portal in an
appropriate Format and in a time bound manner.
For Petitioner :Mr.K.C.Maniyarasu
For Respondents : Mr.M.Karthikeya Venkitachalapathy
Deputy Solicitor General of India
ORDER
(Order of the Court was made by The Chief Justice)
The petitioner, invoking the jurisdiction of this Court under
Article 226 of the Constitution of India in the nature of pro bono
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publico , has filed the instant writ petition seeking issuance of a writ
of mandamus directing the first respondent (Union of India,
Ministry of Finance) to take appropriate administrative and
technical measures to ensure that web orders comprising daily
proceedings, interim orders and final judgments, are uploaded by
the Debts Recovery Tribunals in Tamil Nadu (Respondents 2 to 6)
onto the official e-DRT web portal in a proper, standardized format
and in a time-bound manner.
2.1. It is contended by learned counsel for the petitioner that
while courts and tribunals across the country in the era of
digitalization upload fully formatted orders carrying the court's
name and emblem, full cause title, litigant/counsel names, QR
codes and digital signature templates, the web orders published by
the DRTs in Tamil Nadu contain only the truncated operative
portions.
2.2. It is further contended that the absence of a formal cause
title, presiding officer signature template and court identification
only lead to external authorities, banks and financial institutions
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rejecting downloaded web orders, particularly interim stay orders,
thereby forcing litigants to chase physical certified copies and
occasionally exposing borrowers to unfair accusations of document
manipulation.
2.3. It is further submitted that the registry of respective
tribunals take around 10 to 15 days to issue certified copies. A
formal representation was submitted to the first respondent with
copies marked to respondents 2 to 6, but as no proactive uniform
measures were taken, the petitioner was constrained to approach
this Court.
3.1. Per contra, learned Deputy Solicitor General of India
appearing on behalf of the respondents submitted that due to the
heavy volume of cases, massive cause lists and daily dockets
ranging from 120 to 200 cases per day before a Presiding Officer,
uploading complete structured judgments for every routine daily
proceeding was considered impractical and a drain on precious
judicial time and, therefore, daily order sheets were restricted to
operative directions and appearances, while the parties had to wait
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for the certified copies for full formal headings.
3.2. It is further submitted that uploading formatted orders in
over 150 cases daily consumes over seven hours of registry time,
more so when the registry is facing staff shortage. It is added that
following infrastructural updates by NIC on the e-DRT portal and
subsequent internal administrative steps, DRT-I, Chennai, DRT-III,
Chennai, and DRT, Madurai have confirmed that proceedings are
now actively being uploaded with the full name and emblem of the
court, complete cause titles, litigant and counsel names, verification
QR codes, and the Presiding Officer's signature template. DRT,
Coimbatore has implemented the new expanded format for
Presiding Officer and Registrar courts as of October 2026. DRT-II,
Chennai has integrated verification QR codes routing directly to the
e-DRT portal.
3.3. It is also submitted that the certified copy applications are
processed and issued within standard operational windows, for
instance 2 to 3 days in DRT-III, Chennai, and 7 to 10 days in DRT,
Coimbatore, barring exceptionally bulky case files.
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4. We have heard learned counsel on either side, perused the
documents on record and the legal framework regulating
proceedings in Debts Recovery Tribunals.
5. Rules 14 and 16 of the Debts Recovery Tribunal (Procedure)
Rules, 1993, mandate that every order of the Tribunal must be in
writing, signed, and dated by the Presiding Officer, and that final
orders must be communicated to the parties.
6. Rule 5 of the Debts Recovery Tribunals and Debts Recovery
Appellate Tribunals Electronic Filing Rules, 2020, statutorily
commands tribunals to regularly upload cause lists, daily orders
and final orders on the common e-DRT web portal.
7. The Debts Recovery Tribunal Regulations, 2024 mandate
immediate online publication of judgments and daily orders upon
pronouncement, bearing proper digital authentication across all
pages.
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8. The grievance initially projected by the petitioner was
genuine, pointing to a systemic lag in digital standardization across
DRTs in Tamil Nadu. However, the stand taken by the respondents
in their counter-affidavit confirming that upgraded formats
featuring complete cause titles, court emblems, QR codes and
signature templates are now operational across DRT-I, DRT-II, DRT-
III, Chennai; DRT, Coimbatore; and DRT Madurai, substantially
addresses the core prayers sought in this writ petition.
9. Access to justice, transparency under Article 21 of the
Constitution of India, and effective e-governance require that
digital copies of orders available to litigants possess all requisite
information so that bona fide litigants and financial institutions are
not forced to needlessly endure operational hurdles or face
spurious allegations of document fabrication. Since the respondent
tribunals have themselves adopted and implemented remedial
administrative changes to publish fully compliant web orders on
the e-DRT portal, keeping this writ petition pending is no longer
necessary, provided that such compliance is maintained
continuously.
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10. In light of the compliance steps detailed in the counter-
affidavit filed by the respondents and the statutory mandates under
the e-DRT Electronic Filing Rules, 2020 and DRT Regulations, 2024,
this writ petition is disposed of requesting the Chairperson of the
Debt Recovery Appellate Tribunal, Chennai, who has the general
power of superintendence and control over the Tribunals under his
jurisdiction as per Section 17-A of the Recovery of Debts and
Bankruptcy Act, 1993, to ensure the following:
(i) Respondents 2 to 6 shall strictly continue the
upgraded practice of uploading all final judgments,
interim orders and daily proceedings onto the
official e-DRT web portal in the standardized format,
incorporating the court name/emblem, complete
cause titles, appearing counsels, verification QR
codes and proper signature templates, without
reverting to truncated or unverified text blocks.
(ii) The respondent tribunals shall ensure that web
orders and daily proceedings are uploaded in a
time-bound manner, in compliance with the
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statutory provisions, referred to supra.
(iii) Applications for certified copies filed by litigants
shall continue to be processed expeditiously within
the stipulated service timelines, ensuring that
statutory appellate remedies before the Debts
Recovery Appellate Tribunal (DRAT) are not impeded
by administrative delays.
The Writ Petition is disposed of with the aforesaid directions.
No costs.
(SUSHRUT ARVIND DHARMADHIKARI, C.J.) (P.VELMURUGAN J.)
13-11-2026
Index : Yes/No
Neutral Citation : Yes/No
Note to Registry:
Mark a copy of this order to the
Chairperson, Debt Recovery Appellate
Tribunal, Chennai, through the
Registrar concerned.
VSM/sasi
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To
1. The Union of India
Represented by the Secretary to Government
Ministry of Finance
Department of Economic Affairs
(Banking Division) North Block
New Delhi
2. The Registrar
Debt Recovery Tribunal
Chennai - I
Shastri Bhavan
Nungambakkam
Chennai - 600 008
3. The Registrar
Debt Recovery Tribunal
Chennai - II
Shastri Bhavan
Nungambakkam
Chennai - 600 008
4. The Registrar
Debt Recovery Tribunal
Chennai - III
Shastri Bhavan
Nungambakkam
Chennai - 600 008
5. The Registrar
Debt Recovery Tribunal
Coimbatore
Head Quarters Road
Gopalapuram
Coimbatore - 641 018
6. The Registrar
Debt Recovery Tribunal - Madurai
Kalyani Towers
Ring Road
Uthangudi
Madurai - 625 107
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WP(MD) No. 28100 of 2024
SUSHRUT ARVIND DHARMADHIKARI, C.J.
AND
P.VELMURUGAN, J.
VSM/sasi
WP(MD) No. 28100 of 2024
13-11-2026
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