The Supreme Court has called for a detailed report from the Jharkhand High Court concerning delays in pronouncing judgments on appeals reserved in 2022. This order was issued following a petition by four life convicts alleging that their appeals against convictions have remained unresolved.
Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh, presiding over the bench, directed the registrar general of the Jharkhand High Court to submit a sealed report detailing cases where decisions were reserved but judgments were not pronounced for over two months.
Represented by advocate Fauzia Shakil, the petitioners—Pila Pahan, Soma Badang, Satyanarayan Sahu, and Dharmesh Oraon—argued that they had been incarcerated for periods ranging from 11 to 16 years. Their convictions span murder and rape charges, with each currently serving a life sentence.
The convicts, belonging to scheduled tribes and other backward classes, stated their appeals were heard and judgments reserved by the High Court of Jharkhand in 2022, yet no verdicts have been pronounced.
The plea also highlighted the broader implications of the delay, noting that apart from the four petitioners, ten other convicts are trapped in a similar predicament, with their judgments pending for approximately three years.
In response, the Supreme Court has also issued a notice on the bail plea filed by the convicts and sought the viewpoint of the Jharkhand state government regarding the matter.
