Summary
A criminal appeal pending in the Allahabad High Court since 2008 was heard and reserved for judgment on 24.12.2021, but no judgment was delivered and the matter was relisted before a regular Bench. Treating the delay as a recurring systemic failure, the Supreme Court reiterated the Anil Rai guidelines and issued an additional direction to the Registrars General of all High Courts to monitor reserved judgments and place undelivered judgments before the Chief Justice for reassignment.
Issues
- What directions should issue where a High Court hears a matter, reserves it for judgment and then fails to pronounce the judgment for a prolonged period?
Held
- The non-delivery of a judgment for almost a year after the appeal was heard is shocking. The Court is repeatedly confronted with matters kept pending in High Courts for months or years after hearing, and in most High Courts there is no mechanism by which a litigant can bring the delay to the notice of the Bench or the Chief Justice; such delay makes the litigant lose faith in the judicial process and defeats the ends of justice. (¶ 7)
- The guidelines in Anil Rai v. State of Bihar on the pronouncement of reserved judgments (recording the dates of reserving and pronouncing, monthly lists of unpronounced judgments, attention of the Bench after two months, applications for early judgment after three months and for reassignment after six months) are reiterated; what is required is adherence to them. The practice of pronouncing a final order without a reasoned judgment has also been deprecated in a line of decisions. (¶¶ 8, 9, 10)
- In addition to the Anil Rai guidelines, the Registrar General of each High Court shall furnish to the Chief Justice a list of cases in which a reserved judgment is not pronounced within the remaining period of that month, repeating the exercise for three months. If the judgment is not delivered within three months, the Registrar General shall place the matter before the Chief Justice, who shall bring it to the notice of the Bench concerned for pronouncement within two weeks, failing which the matter is to be assigned to another Bench. (¶¶ 10, 11)
Result
Appeals disposed of with the above observations and directions; a copy of the judgment to be circulated to the Registrars General of all High Courts for compliance.