TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2026 (5) TMI 1852
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.... Adv., Mr. Umesh Kumar Yadav, Adv., Mr. Sawan Datta, Adv., Mr. Nimish Arjaria, Adv., Mr. Shreyash Bhardwaj, Adv., Ms. Ratna Priya Pradhan, Adv., Mr. Tilak Vij, Adv., Mr. Rahul Gupta, AOR, Mr. B. Shravanth Shanker, AOR, Ms. Prerna Robin, Adv., Ms. Grahita Agarwal, Adv., Mr. I.V. Sai Nikhil, Adv., Mr. B. Yeshwanth Raj, Adv., Mr. P. I. Jose, AOR, Mr. Ravi Raghunath, AOR, Mr. Sahil Tagotra, AOR, Ms. Shreya Kasera, Adv., Ms. K.V. Bharathi Upadhyaya, AOR, Ms. Pritama, Adv., Ms. Shaivani Gupta, Adv., Dr. Sunita, Adv., Mr. Sufyan Hasan, Adv., Ms. Hema Malik, Adv., Mr. Bipin Vinayak Chandan, Adv., Mr. Deepayan Mandal, AOR, Mr. Mridul Bansal, Adv., Mr. Naman Varma, Adv., Mr. Monu, Adv., Mr. Aryan Ahmed, Adv., Mr. Sanjai Kumar Pathak, AOR, Mrs. Shashi Pathak, Adv., Mr. Arvind Kumar Tripathi, Adv., Ms. Ruhi Sultana, Adv., Mr. Robin Kumar, Adv., Ms. Shweta Jayshankar Dwivedi, Adv., Mr. Ashish Kumar Sinha, Adv., Mrs. Binita Jaiswal, Adv., Ms. Nidhi Mittal, AOR, Mr. Ahantham Henry, Adv., Mr. Ahantham Rohen Singh, Adv., Mr. Dadvid Ahongsangbam, Adv., Mr. Mahon Singh, Adv., Mr. Aniket Rajput, Adv., Ms. Khoisnam Nirmala Devi, Adv., Mr. Yeshu Mehta, Adv., Mr. Tanay Hegde, Adv., Mr. Ravi Kumar Bodhani....
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....rved judgments, the Petitioners have approached this Court by means of the instant petitions, seeking appropriate directions to the High Court to pronounce the same expeditiously. 3.3. This Court, on the first date of hearing, on 23.04.2025, directed the Registrar General of the High Court of Jharkhand to submit a report on all cases in which judgments were reserved more than two months ago and were pending pronouncement, along with Bench-wise details. 3.4. In compliance thereof, the Registrar General submitted a status report, which was taken on record by this Court on 05.05.2025. The report inter alia disclosed that 56 matters, including criminal appeals, had been finally heard by a Division Bench of the High Court on various dates between 04.01.2022 and 16.12.2024, with final pronouncements still awaited in each. Further, 11 matters were reserved by a Single Judge Bench on dates ranging from 25.07.2024 to 27.09.2024. The details of the appeals preferred by the Petitioners, however, were not included in the said report. 3.5. On the same date, we were apprised of an article published in the Indian Express, an English-language daily newspaper, titled "After SC rap, HC deci....
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.... High Courts were requested to modify the existing format to ensure that uploaded and certified copies of their judgments clearly disclose the date of reservation, the date of pronouncement, and the date of uploading on the website, along with a specification as to whether the operative part alone or the full judgment had been pronounced. 3.11. The learned Amicus thereafter compiled and filed a consolidated report in four volumes, containing a High Court-wise analysis of delayed pronouncements. The learned Amicus was further requested vide order dated 16.02.2026 to consolidate all the suggestions and recommendations received from the High Courts for the issuance of uniform general judicial guidelines. 3.12. Learned Amicus accordingly submitted the draft guidelines, which were directed to be circulated to the Registrars General of all the High Courts for their respective suggestions, and the matter was thereupon reserved for orders. B. ANALYSIS 4. Having considered the material on record, along with the suggestions received from several High Courts in response to the draft guidelines circulated by the learned Amicus, we are of the view that this is a fit case warranting ....
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....udgement is not pronounced within 2 months, the Chief Justice shall draw the attention of the concerned Bench. If the judgement is not delivered within 3 months, Registrar General shall place the matter before the Chief Justice, who shall direct the concerned Bench to pronounce the judgement within 2 weeks. If the judgement is still not pronounced after 2 weeks, the Chief Justice may re-assign the matter to another Bench for rehearing. Remedies for Litigants If a judgement is not pronounced after 3 months of reserving, a party may file an application for early pronouncement of the judgement, which shall be listed within 2 days. If a judgement is not pronounced after 6 months of reserving, a party may approach the Chief Justice of the High Court for withdrawal of the matter and its re-assignment to another Bench. Operative and Reasoned Part of Judgement All benches shall endeavour to pronounce reasoned judgements in all cases. If only the operative part is pronounced, the reasoned judgement must be uploaded within 5 days, extendable up to a maximum of 15 days. The case status on the High Court website must clearly reflect: "operative part delivered - judge....
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....n-India scenario is deeply disquieting. Reserved judgments have remained unpronounced for months, and in some instances, for years. The report makes it clear that the problem is pervasive and brooks no further delay in its redress. 9. It goes without saying that we cannot turn a Nelson's Eye to the human dimension of this problem, and it must be noted that each delayed judgement in that compilation represents a litigant whose case has been heard but whose fate hangs in the balance. The right to life and personal liberty guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution is not confined to the expeditious conduct of a trial. It extends to every stage of the proceeding and is as much violated by such delay in pronouncing a reserved judgement as by a denial of the right to be heard. 10. The weight of this delay falls with particular severity on those held in custody, for whom each day without a pronouncement is a day of continued confinement. A convict whose appeal has been reserved, or an accused who has sought bail and is awaiting the court's decision, cannot be expected to accept the court's silence with equanimity. 11. The interval between the hearing and the pronouncement a....
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....ve not been pronounced within a period of six weeks from the date of conclusion of the arguments amongst the Judges of the High Court for their information. Such communication be conveyed as confidential and in a sealed cover. (iv) Where a judgement is not pronounced within three months, from the date of reserving it, any of the parties in the case is permitted to file an application in the High Court with a prayer for early judgement. Such application, as and when filed, shall be listed before the Bench concerned within two days excluding the intervening holidays. (v) If the judgement, for any reason, is not pronounced within a period of six months, any of the parties of the said lis shall be entitled to move an application before the Chief Justice of the High Court with a prayer to withdraw the said case and to make it over to any other Bench for fresh arguments. It is open to the Chief Justice to grant the said prayer or to pass any other order as he deems fit in the circumstances." [Emphasis Supplied] [Sic] 13. The matter did not rest there. For instance, in Ratilal Jhaverbhai Parmar v. State of Gujarat 2024 SCC OnLine SC 2985., this Court suppleme....
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....rial Courts. [Section 353(1), Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973; Section 392, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023; Order XX Rule 1, Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.] We therefore deem it necessary to revisit and restate these directions in more comprehensive and definitive terms. 16. To that end, and in exercise of the jurisdiction vested in this Court under Article 142 of the Constitution, we hereby issue the following comprehensive guidelines, which shall hereafter operate as binding directions upon all High Courts across the country: A. Procedural Timelines re Pronouncement of Judgements/Orders I. Timelines a. In a matter where the judgement is reserved, the High Court shall endeavour to pronounce a reasoned judgement promptly, within a maximum period of 3 months from the date of reserving such judgement. b. The High Courts shall display extra promptitude in pronouncing judgements and orders in matters of personal liberty, e.g. regular bail, anticipatory bail, criminal appeals (where the convict is in custody), death references, etc. c. As soon as the bail application is heard, the order should preferably be pronounced and upload....
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....gments have not been pronounced within 2 months from the date of reserving such judgment, amongst the Judges of the High Court for their information. The communication shall be conveyed as confidential and in a sealed cover. c. In the event the reserved judgment is not delivered within 3 months, the Registrar General shall place the matters before the Chief Justice for orders, and the Chief Justice shall bring it to the notice of the concerned Bench for pronouncing the judgment within 2 weeks thereafter. d. In the event the reserved judgment is still not delivered within the extended period of 2 weeks, the Chief Justice should assign the case to another Bench with a notification to the advocates and the parties. The new Bench to which the matter is assigned shall obviously rehear the case and pronounce the judgment promptly. e. Where the operative part of the judgement has been pronounced in open court, and the reasoned judgement is not uploaded within 15 days, the Registrar General shall place the matters before the Chief Justice for orders, and the Chief Justice shall bring it to the notice of the concerned Bench for uploading the reasoned judgement wit....
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.... the operative part of the judgment is delivered, the case status on the High Court website must reflect accordingly. c. When the reasoned judgement is uploaded on the website, an automated intimation through email/SMS be sent to the advocates representing the parties. 17. The Registrars General of the High Courts are directed to place these guidelines before the Chief Justices of their respective High Courts so that appropriate steps are taken to incorporate necessary amendments into the High Court Rules and their official websites. 18. It would be apposite at this stage to place the directions issued hereinabove in their proper context, bearing in mind the exceptional responsibilities entrusted to the High Courts under the Constitution of India. As Constitutional Courts and guardians of fundamental as well as legal rights, the High Courts occupy a position of singular importance within our constitutional architecture. 19. For a vast majority of citizens, they constitute the first and most immediate forum for the vindication of rights and the redressal of grievances. It is to the High Court that a citizen turns when personal liberty is imperilled, when executive ....