[Non-Sequitur]

It was filed in the District Court, not decided or issued as a District Court decision.

And why would it be filed in the District Court if it were not a District Court matter. Are Supreme Court decisions routinely filed in district court?

[rustbucket]

And why would it be filed in the District Court if it were not a District Court matter.

To make it a matter of public record as at chambers decisions were not published as a matter of course back then. It was clearly marked as an at chambers decision of the Chief Justice, not a District Court decision.