The Supreme Court of India on Monday criticised the growing practice of some high court judges reserving judgements indefinitely. It called the trend “very disturbing” and said it breached a litigant’s fundamental right to speedy justice.
The court directed registrars general of all 25 high courts to provide details of cases where verdicts were reserved before 31 January but not yet delivered.
The directive triggered an immediate response from the Jharkhand High Court. According to a petitioner’s lawyer, it delivered judgements later the same day in two appeals where verdicts had been pending since 2022. It also scheduled orders in two other long-pending cases for Tuesday.
The court’s intervention stemmed from a plea argued by advocate Fauzia Shakil. She said four prisoners serving life terms had filed appeals between 2012 and 2018. Their appeals were heard and judgement reserved, but no verdict was given even after three years.
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The Supreme Court bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh had earlier sought a report from the Jharkhand HC registrar general. After reviewing it, the bench expanded the scope to include all high courts.
Justice Kant said the court would soon issue mandatory guidelines for delivering judgements without delay. “It cannot be allowed to go on like this,” he said.
The Jharkhand High Court, in its report, stated that division benches had reserved judgements in 56 cases between January 2022 and December 2024. None had been decided yet. Single-judge benches had reserved verdicts in 11 matters between July and September 2024, which also remain pending.
The Supreme Court also referred to a media report. It stated that after the SC’s April 23 order seeking details of the four delayed appeals, the Jharkhand HC had disposed of 75 appeals within a week. The apex court has now asked for copies of those verdicts and sought the status of the four life-term appeals mentioned by Shakil.
The bench has also directed the Jharkhand State Legal Services Authority to locate prisoners whose appeals remain unheard due to indefinite delays in verdicts. These individuals may not have been able to approach the Supreme Court.
In a related matter, sources revealed that judges in the Telangana and Gauhati high courts have also delayed hundreds of verdicts. One Telangana HC judge has alone reserved final orders in over 200 cases.
The Supreme Court will hear the Jharkhand-specific matter on 11 May.
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