Images for representative purposes only. |Photo source: Shashi Shekhar Kashyap
The Supreme Court was surprised on Monday (5 May 2025) that the Jharkhand High Court did not announce the verdict in 67 criminal appeals after retaining the judgment and required all High Courts to submit reports on cases heard within one month on the case that the judgment was heard.
Judges from Surya Kant and N. Kotiswar Singh called the development “disturbing” and said some mandatory guidelines would be developed based on the issue.
“This is not allowed to happen,” the bench said. As it seeks all High Court reports within four weeks with the retention of the judgment on or before January 31, 2025, but the judgment has not been pronounced so far.
The Supreme Court passed the directions after passing the report submitted by the Registrar of the Jharkhand High Court, which said in 56 criminal appeals from January 2022 to December 2024 that the verdict was not yet clear, despite the order being retained.
It also noted that the judgment has not been announced in 11 criminal appeals despite the order retained before the single judge.
The Supreme Court is hearing the pleas of four life offenders who sought help through advocate Fauzia Shakil, claiming that the Jharkhand High Court issued an order on the conviction appeal in 2022, but they cannot claim compensation for remedies as they cannot announce the verdict.
publishing – May 5, 2025-12:55 pm ist
