A full bench of the Rajasthan High Court has ruled that writ petitions arising out of criminal matters must be registered and listed as 'Criminal Writ Petitions', restoring a separate category the court's Registry had been told to stop using in July 2026.

Source: Pink City Post

The bench of Chief Justice Sanjay K. Agrawal, Justice Sameer Jain and Justice Anuroop Singhi answered a reference on Monday, November 2, 2026, overruling the earlier verdict of a division bench, Bar and Bench reported. The full bench held that the July 2026 direction, issued in Jiya & Ors. v. Government of Rajasthan, was per incuriam because it did not consider Rule 315(1)(h) of the Rules of the High Court of Judicature for Rajasthan, 1952, which requires such petitions to be registered separately.

Source: Bar and Bench

Pending cases to be re-registered within two weeks

The ruling is prospective and does not reopen decided cases. The Registry has been directed to re-register, within two weeks, all pending criminal-matter writs that were registered under a different title, and to place them before the bench holding the roster. All fresh writ petitions arising out of criminal matters must be registered as criminal writ petitions.

The reference was made by Justice Anand Sharma. The court recorded its appreciation for the assistance of Advocate General Rajendra Prasad and members of the Bar Associations at Jaipur and Jodhpur. The matter is recorded as D.B. Civil Reference No. 2/2026 in S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 16049/2026.