A bench led by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi on Monday expressed anguish over delay in disposal of cases by high courts, saying accused persons entitled to bail have to wait for 20-25 years before their cases are finally heard.
The Chief Justice observed that “these are the real issues that should bother us”.
“Instead what are we doing? Just fire-fighting on a daily basis,” he said.
The court made the observations while hearing a bail plea of a man convicted in a murder case by the Kaushambi sessions court in 2017. Awarded life sentence, he has been in jail since then.
Senior advocate Devdutt Kamat, appearing for the accused, argued before the court that other convicts in the case were granted bail while the Allahabad high court denied his client bail without assigning any reason.
The plea also said over 20-year-old appeals are in queue in the Allahabad HC, and the appeal of the petitioner is not likely to be taken up for hearing soon.
“What do we do? That’s the reality. But [we] cannot release all the accused only since their appeals are pending for a long time,” said the bench.
{{/usCountry}}“What do we do? That’s the reality. But [we] cannot release all the accused only since their appeals are pending for a long time,” said the bench.
{{/usCountry}}The court also asked solicitor general Tushar Mehta, and senior advocate and former Delhi High court judge RS Sodhi to assist the court on the issue.