The attitude of date after date in the courts is very old. Now such a case has come to light on which even the court is surprised. The man who was convicted by the lower court in a murder case is now 72 years old and the trial has been going on for the last 43 years. The Supreme Court has also expressed concern over the delay in disposal of the petition of this person who was convicted in the case of murder of his own brother. The Supreme Court has also asked questions as to what measures are being taken to deal with the number of pending cases?
The High Court on Tuesday heard the petition of a person convicted in a case more than 40 years old. This man has challenged the decision of the lower court in which he was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. The Partial Working Day (PWD) bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and A S Chandurkar of the Allahabad High Court on Monday termed the situation as worrying and raised the question as to what new measures can be adopted to deal with the increasing number of pending cases in the Allahabad High Court as these pending cases hamper the justice system.
It is a case of murder of brother.
The name of the petitioner in this case is Vijay Singh. He was arrested in November 1983 for shooting and killing his brother when he was 28 years old. A Kanpur court found him guilty of murder and sentenced him to life imprisonment in December 1985. Vijay Singh challenged this decision in Allahabad High Court. His appeal remained pending for almost 41 years and finally on February 9 this year, the petition was rejected by the High Court through a 20-page decision.
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During the hearing, the Supreme Court noted that Vijay Singh had spent only about three months in custody and had been on bail for about 43 years while awaiting the outcome of his appeal. Now the Supreme Court has said that the bail will be continued as long as the proceedings are pending before it. The bench expressed concern over the continued long delay in disposal of cases in the Allahabad High Court and said that due to the large number of pending cases, petitioners often approach the Supreme Court seeking directions for expedited hearing.
Supreme Court raised questions
Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra sought suggestions from senior advocate Siddharth Dave and advocate Zoheb Hussain on measures to speed up disposal of old cases. On this, Siddharth Dave suggested that prosecution appeals pending for more than three decades could be dismissed to reduce the number of pending cases. However, the bench rejected this idea and said that the fundamental principles of adjudication do not permit dismissal of cases merely on the ground of their being pending for a long time.
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The bench warned that such an approach could adversely affect public interest and deprive the parties of the opportunity to present their case. Highlighting the long delay, Vijay Singh said he is now 72 years old and has spent his youth, adulthood and old age under the shadow of criminal convictions. “For more than four decades, through youth, adulthood and now old age, he has been living under the shadow of his conviction,” the petition said. The petition also states that before hearing his criminal appeal was pending in the High Court for 40 years and was rejected.
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