Supreme Court invokes Article 142, issues directions to high courts to prevent delays in judgments

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday issued a set of binding directions to all high courts across the country to ensure faster delivery of judgements and reduce delays in the judicial system.

Invoking its special powers under Article 142 of the Constitution, a bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said reserved judgments must be pronounced within three months.



The top court also laid down strict timelines for bail matters. It directed high courts to pronounce bail orders on the same day after hearing the case or by the next day if the order is reserved.

The court further said that once regular bail is granted, the order must be immediately communicated to the trial court. It added that undertrial prisoners granted bail should be released on the same day after completing the required formalities.

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To improve transparency, the Supreme Court ordered that all judgments must be uploaded on high court websites within 24 hours of pronouncement.

The bench also clarified that the date on which the operative part of a judgment is pronounced will be treated as the official date of the judgment.

Stressing the importance of timely justice, the Court observed that high courts are the primary institutions where thousands of people approach every day seeking relief and delays in judgments directly affect public confidence in the judiciary.

At the same time, the apex court clarified that the directions were not meant to cast aspersions on any judge or judicial institution.

The ruling came while hearing a case related to long delays in pronouncement and uploading of judgments, particularly in the Jharkhand high court.