The Supreme Court of India expressed disapproval on Thursday over the prolonged scheduling of hearings in cases related to individual liberty. The remarks came from a bench comprising Justices B R Gavai and Augustine George Masih, who were concerned with a particular case where the Punjab and Haryana High Court had scheduled a hearing for temporary bail two months after the initial request.
The case in question involved a plea for temporary bail based on medical grounds, where the petitioner argued that his two-year-old daughter required urgent surgery. Despite the urgency, the High Court had set the hearing date for April 22, following an order passed on February 21.
“In matters of liberty, courts are not expected to keep the matter at such a long date,” stated the bench. The Supreme Court then authorized the petitioner to request an earlier hearing date from the High Court, specifically urging that the matter concerning the temporary bail for medical reasons be expedited.
The petitioner’s lawyer revealed that an application for advancing the hearing date had already been filed but was dismissed by the High Court. Responding to this, Justice Gavai questioned whether the High Court would still reject the early hearing request in light of the Supreme Court’s observations.
The Supreme Court refrained from issuing a formal notice on the plea, noting that doing so could invite delays as respondents might request additional time to prepare. Instead, the bench highlighted that the High Court could address the issue more swiftly.
“We expect the high courts to at least give some weightage to our request,” Justice Gavai remarked, emphasizing the judiciary’s responsibility to handle liberty-related matters with the urgency they warrant.
