SUNITA DEVI v. THE REGISTRAR

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA CIVIL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION

1. In this petition, filed under Article 32 of the

Constitution of India, the petitioner has come up with an

unusual prayer. She seeks a direction to the High Court of

Judicature at Allahabad for an out-of-turn hearing and early

disposal of Writ–A No.10571/2022 pending before it.

2. This writ petition is not a solitary instance. On

average, we face two or three writ petitions per week

seeking identical relief against the same High Court. We

make it clear that, in purported exercise of our judicial

powers, we cannot take over the administrative powers of the

Chief Justice of the High Court, who is the master of the

roster and has the absolute prerogative to prioritize and

list matters in the identified categories.

3. However, as an exception, we find that the petitioner

has very strong equitable considerations to persuade the

High Court to dispose of her writ petition expeditiously.

The sole breadwinner of her family, i.e. the petitioner’s

husband, was a Forest Guard in Tiger Reserve, Pilibhit. He

died in harness on 02.09.2021, leaving behind the petitioner

and his aged, widowed mother as his only dependents. The

petitioner’s mother-in-law is respondent No. 4 before us.

The petitioner sought compassiona...