Impossible To Read High Court's Judgements With Watermarks: CJI Asks Lawyers To File Typed Copies

The Supreme Court has once again deprecated the practice of High Courts and District Courts using water-mark logos on their judgements and orders which then becomes difficult to read.

Today, during the mentioning of matters before the Bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, an Advocate mentioned the hassle of typing out entire judgements/orders of High Courts, as the Registry of the Supreme Court insists on typed, readable copies of the water-marked judgements for filing of cases.

Urging the Lawyer to follow the directions of the Registry, the Chief Justice remarked, "Comply with it, type it out! we can't read with watermarks with a magnifying glass".

He further said, "It's impossible for judges to read it. I've tried to take this up on the administrative side with the High Courts but you must also understand and cooperate with the Bench. What's the point of waving your hands".

The Chief Justice said that he has written to the Chief Justices of respective High Courts to not use watermarks on judgements and to ensure the same is followed by the District Courts which fall under their administration.

Recently, the bench of Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice MR Shah while referring to a decision of the National Green Tribunal which uses watermarks in its judgements, spoke about the hindrances posed by such watermarks. Justice DY Chandrachud had then remarked, "It is very difficult to read water-marked orders. Especially on Mondays and Fridays, when we are going through 40 to 45 SLPs! Navigating through watermarks is a nightmare."

In December 2020, Justice Chandrachud had called for the creation of an environment that would be more suitable and accessible to litigants and advocates with disabilities. He, being the then Chairperson of the e-committee had, in order to prove the validity of such documents issued by the courts, written to the High Courts that digital signatures and watermarks used should be placed in a way that does not act as an obstacle in reading or otherwise accessing such documents.