New Delhi: The Supreme Court has issued sharp directions to the Jharkhand High Court, asking judges with long-pending reserved judgments to take sanctioned leave of 10–12 weeks and focus solely on writing verdicts. The move targets a backlog of cases where hearings concluded months or even years ago, but orders remain undelivered.
The direction came from a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi, who told Senior Advocate Ajit Sinha—appearing for the High Court—that the suggestion should be conveyed to the state’s Chief Justice.
“There are 61 cases pending. Ask Jharkhand HC judges to take their sanctioned leaves… People need judgments, they are not concerned about jurisprudence or something else,” the bench said. “Give a reasoned order on whether relief is denied or allowed.”
Orders Follow Student Recruitment Case Delay
The matter arose from petitions by students from Jharkhand’s tribal areas, whose names were on a recruitment list for over 1,000 home guard posts. The state government cancelled the process, prompting challenges in the High Court. Hearings concluded in 2023, but the verdict was still awaited.
Sinha informed the apex court that the judgment had now been delivered in the students’ case. However, the Court noted that this was part of a wider pattern of delayed pronouncements, an issue it has flagged repeatedly since April 2025.
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Earlier Directions on Reserved Judgments
On April 23, a bench led by Justice Surya Kant had dealt with a plea from four convicts whose appeals were heard years ago but remained undecided. The Court then ordered the Jharkhand High Court’s Registrar General to file a sealed status report of all judgments reserved for over two months, listed bench-wise.
The report listed 56 pending matters, including several criminal appeals heard between January 4, 2022, and December 16, 2024. Eleven single-bench cases were also pending, reserved between July 25 and September 27, 2024.
However, the appeal of the four convicts was missing from the list, raising doubts about the accuracy of the data.
High-Profile Death Row Appeals Also Delayed
Another petition involved 10 convicts—six facing the death penalty—whose appeals were heard in 2022 and 2023. Eight of these were not in the Registrar’s report. Investigations revealed they were reserved by two-judge benches led by Justice Rangon Mukhopadhyay, with most dating back to 2022.
The four convicts’ case that sparked the April order was also before Justice Mukhopadhyay. Following the Supreme Court’s intervention, The Indian Express reported on May 5, 2025, that over 75 criminal appeal judgments were delivered by the High Court within a week.
Timely Justice as a Judicial Imperative
On July 21, 2025, the Supreme Court was informed that verdicts in the 10 convicts’ cases had also been pronounced. The apex court kept the media report on record and reiterated that justice delayed is justice denied.
“Just get rid of these cases. People need judgments… Give a reasoned order,” the bench reiterated.
The Court’s repeated admonitions have not only prompted faster judgments in Jharkhand but also sent a message to other High Courts about the institutional need to dispose of reserved matters without undue delay.
