Supreme Court Decries Delay in Verdicts: Calls for Urgent High Court Reports

The Supreme Court expressed concern over the Jharkhand High Court's delay in releasing verdicts for 67 criminal appeals. A bench voiced its disturbance and demanded reports from all high courts on pending cases. This issue arose from a plea concerning delayed verdicts affecting remission for life convicts.

The Supreme Court on Monday voiced its surprise at the Jharkhand High Court's failure to issue verdicts on 67 criminal appeals after reserving judgment. It has now requested all high courts to submit reports within a month on cases with pending judgments. A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh described the situation as 'disturbing' and announced plans to establish mandatory guidelines to address this issue.

The bench expressed its disapproval, stating, 'This cannot be allowed to happen,' and has required reports from all high courts within four weeks. The reports are to cover cases where judgments were reserved on or before January 31, 2025, but have not yet been pronounced.

This directive follows a report from the Jharkhand High Court’s registrar general, revealing that verdicts in 56 criminal appeals heard by a division bench from January 2022 to December 2024 remained unpublished, despite being reserved. Additionally, 11 criminal appeals before a single bench judge have also faced similar delays. The Supreme Court’s involvement in the matter was prompted by a plea from four life convicts whose appeal verdicts were reserved but not announced, affecting their eligibility for remission.

(With inputs from agencies.)