Justice cannot remain reserved indefinitely: Supreme Court cracks the whip to curb delays in judgments, bail orders

In a bid to make judicial proceedings quicker and more accessible, the Supreme Court on Friday issued a slew of directives to high courts across the country.

A Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant invoked Article 142 to issue binding directions to all high courts, mandating that they pronounce judgments within three months and issue bail orders on the same day or at the latest the next day.

Under Article 142 of the Constitution, the Supreme Court has overarching powers to issue enforceable decrees for the fulfilment of "complete justice in any cause or matter pending before it".

The Hindustan Times reported that the Supreme Court’s directives were rooted in proceedings concerning continued delays in the pronouncement of judgments by several High Courts. These proceedings particularly addressed the issue of criminal appeals involving life convicts who continued to remain in custody even as verdicts remained reserved for years after the conclusion of hearings.

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In response, the Kant-led bench directed all high courts to pronounce reserved judgments within three months. It further ordered that bail applications should ordinarily be heard, decided, and uploaded on the same day. If the order is reserved, the bench directed that it must be pronounced by the next day at the latest and uploaded immediately.

The Supreme Court further directed high courts to immediately communicate bail orders to trial courts and mandated that undertrial prisoners granted bail be released on the same day once formalities are completed.

The Supreme Court also said that all judgments should be uploaded on the High Court’s website within 24 hours of being pronounced.

In cases where urgent relief is required, the SC directed that the courts may pronounce the operative portion of the judgement first and the complete judgement must be uploaded within seven days and within a maximum of 15 days in exceptional situations.

The SC also directed the courts to send automated emails and messages to advocates to inform them judgements in their cases have been uploaded.