Ramesh Kapur v. Nanik Bhagia

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: January 12, 2023
• Docket: 14-22-00564-CV
• Status: Published

Opinion

Abatement Order filed January 12, 2023

In The

Fourteenth Court of Appeals ____________

NO. 14-22-00564-CV ____________

RAMESH KAPUR, Appellant

V.

NANIK BHAGIA, Appellee

On Appeal from the 215th District Court Harris County, Texas Trial Court Cause No. 2020-12994

ABATEMENT ORDER

Appellant has notified this court that portions of the clerk’s record have been lost or destroyed. Specifically, appellant alleges he filed a notice of appeal on May 4, 2022 that was not made part of the record because of a possible clerical error. Appellant has provided this court with a file-stamped copy of this document. The trial court clerk has certified to this court that the document is not a part of the case file.

Rule 34.5(e) of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure provides that the trial court must—on any party’s motion or at the appellate court’s request— determine what constitutes an accurate copy of the missing item and order it to be included in the clerk’s record or a supplement. Accordingly, the trial court is directed to conduct a hearing to determine whether the documents submitted by appellant are an accurate copy of the missing items. The court is directed to reduce its findings to writing and the clerk is to prepare, certify, and file with the clerk of this court a supplemental clerk’s record containing those findings. If the court finds the documents to be accurate, the clerk is directed to include a copy of those documents in the supplemental record. The supplemental record is ordered to be filed with the clerk of this court within 30 days of the date of this order.

The appeal is abated, treated as a closed case, and removed from this court’s active docket. The appeal will be reinstated on this court’s active docket when the supplemental clerk’s record is filed in this court. The court will also consider an appropriate motion to reinstate the appeal filed by either party, or the court may reinstate the appeal on its own motion. It is the responsibility of any party seeking reinstatement to request a hearing date from the trial court and to schedule a hearing in compliance with this court’s order. If the parties do not request a hearing, the court coordinator of the trial court shall set a hearing date and notify the parties of such date.

PER CURIAM

Panel Consists of Justices Zimmerer, Spain, and Hassan.