CJI Surya Kant Vows To Fix Ailment of Delayed Judgments; Will Meet HC Chiefs
Referring to the delay, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, who was appearing for the litigant, said, "It seems some kind of lip service is going on. Some message has to go. This amounts to playing with the majesty of law."
New Delhi: Underscoring the need to ensure timely delivery of justice, the Supreme Court on Tuesday said the practice in High Courts of reserving judgments for months without making them public was an "identifiable ailment" that must be eradicated.
A three-judge bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipul M. Pancholi was hearing a plea that said the Jharkhand High Court had orally pronounced a judgment dismissing a petition on December 4 last year and the verdict has not yet been uploaded.
The apex court said a complete judgment be provided to counsel by the end of next week. In its order, the top court said: “We have impressed upon the counsel appearing for the High Court that there is no rhyme or reason for such delay. Let a complete judgment be provided to the counsel by the end of next week.” It directed the matter to be listed in the week commencing on February 16.
Referring to the delay, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, who was appearing for the litigant, said, "It seems some kind of lip service is going on. Some message has to go. This amounts to playing with the majesty of law."
There are broadly two kinds of judges, the CJI said. "One is a hard working judge who will hear everybody and reserve (judgment) in 10-15 matters even. There are some judges who after this don't deliver the judgments. We are not on anyone individually. This is a challenge before the judiciary and this is an identifiable ailment. It has to be treated and eradicated and it cannot be allowed to spread," he said.
The CJI referred to another prevalent trend — in some cases arguments are heard and are again posted for further directions. CJI Kant said he would raise this issue in his upcoming meeting with the Chief Justices of High Courts. " We will try to find a solution so that such avoidable litigation ends," he said.
"In my 15 years as a High Court judge, I never ever reserved a judgment and nor did I not deliver judgment within three months," the CJI added.
