SC seeks reports from HCs on pendency of criminal appeals

The court was told in Madhya Pradesh HC, appeals were pending for 20-30 years and the oldest appeals pending before the Allahabad HC are from the year 1980

The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought reports from the High Courts of Allahabad, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Patna, Bombay and Orissa, after being told that criminal appeals dating back to over 20 to 30 years were still pending.

A Bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and B R Gavai issued notice to Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and also sought assistance from Additional Solicitor General K M Nataraj.

The court was told in Madhya Pradesh High Court, appeals were pending for 20-30 years and the oldest appeals pending before the Allahabad High Court are from the year 1980. The bench sought an action plan from the High Courts as such pendency would affect the right to speedy trial under Article 21 of the Constitution.

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As a counsel from the Allahabad High Court informed that criminal appeals from the year 1980 were pending over there, the bench said, "That means 42 years. The trial would have taken four to five years. So the person who has committed an offence in the 1970s, at the age of 30-40 years would be 80-90 years now."

The court was told that between 1982-1991, there are an average of more than 200 appeals. In total, 14,112 appeals were pending before a single judge and 13,192 appeals before the division bench. In total, 27,304 appeals were pending from 1980 to 2020.

The court was hearing a bail plea by Khursheed Ahmad as his appeal against conviction under Section 302 of the IPC was pending before the Allahabad High Court.