"Supreme Court Criticizes Allahabad High Court for Reassigning Case to Same Ineffective Bench After 6 Months of Pending Verdict"
The Supreme Court expressed strong disapproval over the Allahabad High Court's decision to list a case before the same bench that failed to deliver a judgment even after a six-month period of reservation. Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Ahsanuddin Amanullah deprecated this action taken by the High Court, emphasizing that the matter should have been transferred to a different bench. The Supreme Court ordered the Chief Justice to assign the case to another bench.
The case pertained to an appeal filed by a convict seeking bail, as the High Court had not rendered a judgment despite reserving it in August 2022. The appellant argued that he had already served 16 years, 9 months, and 18 days in custody, and his appeal had been pending since 2014.
During the previous hearing, the Supreme Court asked the High Court to provide an update on the reserved judgment. The Registrar General of the High Court reported that the judgment had not been pronounced, but the case was listed before the same bench on May 12. On that day, arguments were completed, and the bench instructed the parties to submit written submissions by May 15. The judgment was slated to be delivered on May 19.
Citing the precedent set in the case of Anil Rai v. State of Bihar (2001), which stipulates that a judgment pending for more than six months should be reassigned to a different bench for fresh arguments, the Supreme Court expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that the case was listed before the same bench despite the direction to reassign it.
As a result, the Court concluded that the earlier bench's judgment, scheduled for May 19, 2023, would no longer be valid since the case would be freshly heard by another bench. Taking into account the appellant's extensive period of custody, 16 years and 9 months, the Court granted him bail until the final judgment.
The Court acknowledged the urgency of the matter and urged the newly assigned bench to expedite the proceedings. In its final remarks, the Court expressed its reluctance but emphasized the importance of swift action in this case.
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TAGS: Supreme Court Allahabad High Court reassigning case same bench failed to deliver verdict six months reservation frowns upon deprecated disapproval.
