SC asks HCs to ensure timely upload of reasoned judgments

New Delhi, Sep 9 The Supreme Court has directed High Courts across the country to ensure that reasoned judgments are uploaded without delay after the pronouncement of operative orders.

A bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Sandeep Mehta termed the delay a "matter of grave concern" after noting that the Punjab and Haryana High Court pronounced its decision on February 18, 2016, but uploaded the full judgment only on July 18, 2018 — a gap of about 2 years and 5 months.

“Over a period of time, it has been the practice of a few High Courts to pronounce the operative part of the order without the reasoned judgment and after a substantial length of time, the reasoned judgment is uploaded. This practice has been deprecated by this court in many of its judgments and orders," the Justice Pardiwala-led Bench said.

Citing the apex court’s earlier ruling in Anil Rai v. State of Bihar, it said: "Delay in disposal of the cases facilitates the people to raise eyebrows, sometimes genuinely, which, if not checked, may shake the confidence of the people in the judicial system. For the fault of a few, the glorious and glittering name of the judiciary cannot be permitted to be made ugly."

The Supreme Court directed that its judgment be circulated to all High Courts, reiterating the guidelines laid down in the Anil Rai case requiring judgments to be delivered without delay.

"We hope that we may not have to come across any matter wherein there is a delay at the end of the High Court in uploading the reasoned order, more particularly after the operative part of the judgment is pronounced," the bench observed.

Earlier in August, a bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and Prashant Kumar Mishra had voiced strong concern over long delays by High Courts in pronouncing judgments after hearings are concluded, warning that such a situation erodes "litigants’ faith in the judicial process".

The Justice Karol-led Bench noted that it is "repeatedly confronted" with cases where proceedings are kept pending in the High Courts for over three months, and in some instances for more than six months or even years.

Disposing of a special leave petition (SLP) concerning a criminal appeal pending since 2008 in the Allahabad High Court, the apex court had termed it "extremely shocking and surprising" that the judgment was not delivered for nearly a year from the date when the appeal was heard.

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