The Supreme Court of India has taken a stern view of the Allahabad High Court’s failure to prepare a “working plan” for listing criminal appeals where convicts have been incarcerated for over a decade. A bench comprising Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra has directed the Registrar Judicial (Listing) of the High Court to appear in person with a complete action plan for hearing these appeals.
The order was passed on October 13, 2025, while hearing a Special Leave Petition in the case of Chatra Pal vs. State of U.P. & Anr. The matter brought to light significant delays in the justice delivery system, prompting the apex court to scrutinize the administrative handling of such cases.
Background of the Order
The Supreme Court was examining a report dated September 27, 2025, submitted by the Registrar Judicial (Listing) of the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad. The report was meant to detail the steps taken to list a total of 2,297 criminal appeals in which the accused have been imprisoned for more than ten years.
Court’s Observations and Analysis
After perusing the report, the Supreme Court expressed its dissatisfaction, noting a complete absence of a structured approach to tackle the backlog. The bench observed, “We find that the same elusive of the steps taken for listing 2036+261 (total 2297) appeals in which the accused has been suffering incarceration for a period of more than ten years there is no working plan in place.”
The Court highlighted an even more pressing concern, stating, “…in fact we find that there are at least 12+3+5+11+8+13 (total 52) pending cases in which the accused has been suffering from incarceration for a period of more than fifteen years.”
The judgment strongly criticized the submitted report for its lack of essential details. “The Report is conspicuously silent about the plan for effectively listing these appeals,” the bench remarked.
The Court specified the information it had expected the report to contain, which would have demonstrated a concrete effort to address the delays. The order stated that the report “could have been easily indicated, (a) the number of benches constituted and hearing such appeals; (b) whether service upon the parties are complete or not; (c) whether the paper books were ready for hearing of the appeals; and (d) the difficulties faced in listing these appeals for hearing, with specific reasons assigned therefor.”
The Final Direction
Concluding that the report was inadequate, the Supreme Court issued a direct summons. The order read: “In these circumstances, we direct the Registrar Judicial (Listing) who submitted the Report dated 27.09.2025, or the incumbent officer, to remain present in Court on the next date of hearing with complete working plan concerning listing and/or hearing of these appeals.”
To ensure the matter receives the highest level of attention within the High Court’s administration, the bench further directed, “Learned Chief Justice of the High Court be apprised of the passing of this order.”
The case is scheduled for its next hearing on October 16, 2025.
