Supreme Court proposes framing of mandatory guidelines for expeditious appraisal of criminal appeals

Supreme Court: While considering a writ petition revolving around 4 petitioners seeking a direction to the Jharkhand High Court for pronouncement of judgments in their respective Criminal Appeals; the Division Bench of Surya Kant and N. Kotiswar Singh, JJ., took note after the directions issued by them via order dated 5-5-2025, and during the pendency of these proceedings, the judgments in all the four Criminal Appeals have been pronounced by the High Court. It was noted that consequently, all the four petitioners have been released from custody as of 13-05-2025.

Expressing relief that the petitioners have finally attained some semblance of justice, the Court once again emphasised on the pressing issues raised in this matter vis-a-vis expeditious appraisal of criminal appeals and the swift disbursement of justice therein, as they are of paramount importance and goes to the root of the criminal justice system in India.

In its order dated 5-5-2025, the Court had directed the Registrar General of all High Courts to submit a Report regarding cases where judgments had been reserved on or before 31-01-2025, but the pronouncement of judgments was still awaited.

The Court once again pointed out that the issues raised in the instant petition require deeper analysis by and perhaps invite the laying down of certain mandatory guidelines. “We say so being fully cognizant of the fact that the judiciary’s efficient functioning is a necessary pre-requisite to maintain the trust and faith of the consumers of justice in the justice delivery system”.

The Court further said that timelines prescribed earlier for the pronouncement of judgments will also have to be strictly adhered to by the High Courts, along with the mechanism which the Court proposes to evolve.

The main case was listed for 21-7-2025 and the Court directed that the information to be received from the Registrar General of the High Courts shall be collated by the Registry and tagged with the paperbooks for further consideration.

Also Read: Supreme Court directs all High Courts to submit reports on pending cases with reserved judgments as of 31-01-2025