The Supreme Court has ordered a temporary halt to the practice of disposing of case files after it was revealed a number of family courts have discarded valuable materials related to juvenile cases, sources close to the matter said Wednesday.
In an order dated Oct. 25, the top court asked high, district and family courts to keep records even if they have reached the end of their mandated retention periods, citing the need to review whether historically valuable materials have been handled appropriately, they said.
The Supreme Court's regulations state that while records on incidents involving minors should be preserved until the individual reaches age 26, documents of historical value must be kept beyond the limit and in perpetuity under special preservation provisions.