The Supreme Court has expressed serious concern over the inordinate delay by the Allahabad High Court in pronouncing judgments, after hearing that a criminal appeal reserved for orders on December 24, 2021, remained undecided for nearly a year.
A Bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and Prashant Kumar Mishra, while disposing of appeals filed by de-facto complainant, observed that such delays erode public confidence in the judicial process. The Court called it “extremely shocking and surprising” that despite arguments being concluded, no judgment was delivered and the case was merely relisted before another bench ?.
The appellant had repeatedly moved the High Court nine times since 2008 for early disposal of the pending criminal appeal. Despite a Supreme Court directive in April 2025 to decide the case expeditiously, the matter continued to languish.
Reiterating its earlier ruling in Anil Rai vs State of Bihar (2001) 7 SCC 318, the Supreme court directed that:
• Each High Court’s Registrar General must prepare a monthly list of cases where judgments remain reserved beyond a month.
• If judgments are not delivered within three months, matters must be brought before the Chief Justice for urgent orders.
• If still pending, the Chief Justice must reassign such cases to another bench within two weeks.
The Court also deprecated the practice of delivering final orders without reasoned judgments, citing past rulings that such delays deprive litigants of their right to appeal or seek further redress.
With these directions, the appeals were disposed of. The judgment has been ordered to be circulated to all High Courts for strict compliance.