Ravindra Pratap Shahi Vs State of U.P. & Ors. (Supreme Court of India)
Supreme Court order directing Registrar General of each High Court to furnish to the Chief Justice of the High Court list of cases where judgment reserved is not pronounced within a time bound manner
Brief facts : According to the appellant/de-facto complainant, the appeal preferred by respondent no.2 is pending since 2008 wherein he moved the High Court on nine different occasions for early listing, hearing and disposal of the appeal. However, no final verdict has been given by the High Court. Eventually, arguments were heard by the Division Bench of the High Court at great length, and the appeal was reserved for orders on 24.12.2021. When we heard this matter on 27.01.2025, we directed the Registrar General of the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad to immediately bring the issue to the notice of the Chief Justice and also submit a report with regard to the correctness of the averments made in these Appeals.
The Registrar General of the High Court submitted his report dated 29.01.2025 submitting inter alia that the appeal was heard and reserved for orders on 24.12.2021. However, since the judgment was not delivered within six months, in light of administrative order of the Chief Justice dated 07.03.2019, the case was ordered to be listed before Regular Bench (as per roster). The matter was again placed before the Chief Justice on 19.12.2022, upon which, it was directed that the matter be listed as per roster on 09.01.2023. On this date, no one appeared for the appellant. Therefore, the appeal was adjourned for hearing on 06.02.2023 and, thereafter, on subsequent dates, hearing did not materialise.
