New Delhi: The Supreme Court has come down heavily on the Allahabad High Court for delaying judgments long after hearings concluded, calling the practice “extremely shocking and surprising.”
A bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and Prashant Kumar Mishra expressed serious concern over such prolonged delays, stressing that timely delivery of judgments is essential for justice.
Bench Flags Unusual Delay
The matter arose from appeals filed by Ravindra Pratap Shahi against interim orders of the Allahabad High Court in a criminal case pending since 2008.
The appeal was fully heard and reserved for orders by a Division Bench on December 24, 2021. Yet, no judgment followed for nearly a year, forcing transfer to another Bench.
The Court noted that despite repeated applications for an early decision, no verdict was delivered. It said such unexplained delays compromise the credibility of the justice system.
Delays Not an Isolated Case
The Supreme Court stressed that this was not a single occurrence. Several matters reach the apex court where High Court judgments remain pending beyond three months.
In some cases, delays stretch to six months or even years after hearings conclude. The Bench reminded that its earlier ruling in Anil Rai v. State of Bihar had already stressed that prompt judgments form the backbone of justice.
New Monitoring Mechanism Ordered
To address this recurring problem, the Court issued strict directions for monthly monitoring of reserved judgments.
It ordered Registrars of all High Courts to prepare monthly reports listing cases where judgments were reserved but not delivered that month. These reports must be sent directly to the Chief Justice of the High Court.
If a judgment remains undelivered for three months, the Registrar General must place the case before the Chief Justice. The Chief Justice must then instruct the concerned Bench to pronounce judgment within two weeks. If still delayed, the case must be reassigned.
“These directions are in addition to those already issued by this Court in Anil Rai,” the Bench clarified.
The Court further directed that copies of its ruling be circulated to Registrar Generals of all High Courts to ensure compliance.
Representation in Court
Senior Advocate S. Nagamuthu appeared for the appellant, assisted by Advocates Devesh Mohan, Kush Chaturvedi, Prerna Priyadarshini, Syed Faraz Alam, Atharva Gaur, Aayushman Aggarwal, and Ayesha Choudhary. Advocate Preetika Dwivedi represented the respondents.
