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Pic pinch for Supreme Court Registry; PM Modi’s image in mails dumped

Supreme Court Registry goes into damage-control mode, hastily gets PM Modi’s picture dropped

It looks like whatever comes out of the PMO and other ministries or any institution that is related to the administration must have an image of the Prime Minister. The whole of India would perhaps vouch for the fact the PM Modi’s picture is the most-watched image in recent times.

PM Modi is in fact omnipresent, his photographs look straight into your eyes from hoardings at petrol stations, COVID-19 vaccination certificates, and everything you get from the government or its agencies.

However, the latest one just seems to have left people involved with an egg on their face.  This is what happened, in case you didn’t know. The Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav that marks the 75 years of Indian Independence next year is now on and the government at the Centre has been promoting it with all fanfare. As is the habit, the officials have included Prime Minister Modi’s picture in all materials that have been printed for the event promotion.

PM Modi’s picture in Supreme Court Registry mail unprecedented

But then, little did they realise that the ads for the event with images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in emails sent to advocates by the Registry of the Supreme Court could cause a problem. Such an act was unheard of hitherto. This indeed created a flutter as the line between the executive and judiciary saw itself fading. Mails sent from the top court of the land carrying the PM’s image is not a norm, whatsoever.

As per an Indian Express report the Registry immediately swung into action and asked the National Informatics Centre (NIC), which provides the email services to the apex court, to drop that image from the footer of the emails originating from the Supreme Court. Further, the image was also removed and a picture of the Supreme Court of India was placed in that slot.  

The issue first came to light when a lawyer pointed this out in a message posted on the WhatsApp group of the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association.

Lawyer flags issue in Advocates-on-Record WhatsApp group

According to the lawyer, he received a notice from the Registry with a snapshot of the Prime Minister. He stated that it did not seem to be in the order of the Supreme Court’s position as an independent organ and not a part of the government.

The Supreme Court Registry also came up with a statement saying that it was brought to its notice that the official emails of the Supreme Court of India were carrying an image as a footer, which has no connection whatsoever with the functioning of the judiciary.

The back-end operations of the court are handled by the Registry and it interacts with the Advocates-on-Record on the status of cases. The Advocates-on-Record association is gearing up to take action after a formal complaint is received from the lawyers. Advocates-on-Record are lawyers qualified to plead before the Supreme Court and can file a case in the top court.

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Sanjeev Ramachandran

A journalist with 23 years of experience, Sanjeev has worked with reputed media houses such as Business Standard, The Ne More »
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