The High Courts in India are Courts of records.

A Court of record generally has the following attributes:

     1.  generally has a seal

     2.  power to fine or imprison for contempt

     3.  keeps a record of the proceedings

     4.  proceeds according to the common law (not statutes or codes)

     5.  is independent of the magistrate (judge)

The bold highlight on top among others, means that whatever you happen to file in court is preserved
 by the court, including original documents, if any.

However, curiously, in our legal system, the court files habitually disappear.Usually after an interim
 order/injunction has been granted by the Court.

In local parlance the Kolkata attorneys refer to this extra judicial redressal mechanism as the
 ‘Ganges service’ meaning that after a party has obtained an interim order in its favour and
does not want such order to be set aside or varied or the matter to be heard in the near future,
 the court file is illegally obtained by allegedly masquerading the court staff for a few ‘Gandhis’
and immersed in the holy Ganges.

In the northern states, it is known as ‘file gayab ho jana’.

In the South, I am certain there are suitable phrases for the same.

What follows is a very tedious procedure of ‘reconstruction of court file’. Letters are usually
written to the Court Registrar/Registry for reconstruction followed by repeated mentioning

before the Court, issuance of notices to parties to produce their records of the matter
and then removal of objections and finally a reconstructed file on which the proceedings
may continue.

Time span – safely 2-3 years

And the injunction continues.

Now, if the court of record fails to preserve it own record, why should the litigant suffer?

Who pays for such suffering?

The answer obviously is that the Court or the department of the court being responsible for such
‘disappearance’, should be answerable.

The officer in charge or the keeper of the records, if hauled up, may be able to reveal the
 truth and more importantly, the costs of such reconstruction, judicial time wasted and
 suffering to the litigant are if, made to be paid out of his salary, such a nuisance may
 perhaps be deterred. An inquiry into the affairs of the Court, suspension pending inquiry,
a quick decision, suitable exemplary punishment to the wrong doers may also create an
 example for non-repetition of such tricks.

And looking forward, ofcourse, e-filing.

Any thoughts as to how the Courts ought to preserve its own records, keep it away from gnawing

 animals , fire, flood, an occasional tsunami , unruly protests and vandalism and such similar
 stuff apart from the greasy palms removing the files for its final immersion in the nearby rivers?