Tag: supreme court

It was informed that nearly 1.83 lakh criminal appeals are pending before the high court, and the counsel argued that there should be some policy to release prisoners who have served more than 10 years….reports Asian Lite News

The Supreme Court has emphasised that the government and the courts should adopt a reformative approach for those who have spent 10-14 years in prison, while serving a life term, and explore the possibility of releasing them either by granting bail or remitting their sentence.

It made these observations while granting bail to nearly two dozen petitioners, who have been languishing in jail for more than 10 years.

A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and M.M. Sundresh observed that the poor and the underprivileged suffer in the jail, however the rich and the influential can secure bail and also escape the law by fleeing from the country.

Senior advocate Ravi Prakash Mehrotra, representing 20 petitioners languishing in the jail, submitted that the criminal appeals were pending in the Allahabad High Court between 8-10 years and emphasised that a reformative approach should be taken towards people who have been sentenced to life imprisonment and have already served over 10 years.

The top court was unhappy with a deluge of petitions, where prisoners have not been granted relief by the Allahabad High Court, and asked the court to decide bail plea of all prisoners, who have served more than 10 years in jail.

It was informed that nearly 1.83 lakh criminal appeals are pending before the high court, and the counsel argued that there should be some policy to release prisoners who have served more than 10 years.

The top court asked the high court to prepare a separate list for those who have undergone 10-14 years in custody along with those who have spent 10 years in custody. It added the high court should release all such prisoners at one go in a scenario where lawyers do not appear for the convict and also the state government has not objected to their plea for release.

It noted that if there is no adverse report on a prisoners’ conduct, then they should be given a chance to blend with society. “There may be cases where for whatever reasons, a lawyer is not present. But if they (the prisoners) have completed 14 years in prison, the state itself can take a stand and the high court judge can pass orders to examine the case for release,” it observed.

The top court cited an example where an accused has been in prison for 17 years and bail plea was rejected by the high court. “Since counsel was not prepared, the plea was rejected, and thereafter, four times the plea was not heard even when counsel was ready,” it said. It asked the high court to find a template on granting bail in such situations.

The top court granted bail to all the 20 petitioners and scheduled the matter for further hearing in the last week of March.

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The bench, also comprising Justices A.S. Bopanna and Hima Kohli, said the court is getting requests for the extension of time for the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) matters etc….reports Asian Lite News

 Expressing its discontent with the vacancies in the tribunals, the Supreme Court on Wednesday said some “knee-jerk” appointments were made by the Centre to fill up vacancies across the country, and the bureaucracy has been taking up the issue “lightly”.

A bench headed by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana observed that after a few appointments made initially, nothing substantial happened.

The bench, also comprising Justices A.S. Bopanna and Hima Kohli, said the court is getting requests for the extension of time for the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) matters etc.

“Some knee-jerk appointments took place and nothing happened after that. We do not know the fate of members and many are retiring,” it said, emphasising that the bureaucracy is taking the issue lightly.

Earlier, the apex court had made some strong observations in connection with vacancies in tribunals across the country. Attorney General K.K. Venugopal contended before the court that he could show the list of vacancies and the steps taken to fill them up. After a brief hearing in the matter, the top court scheduled the matter for further hearing after two weeks.

In August last year, the top court had cited data to show that around 250 posts are lying vacant in various key tribunals and appellate tribunals across the country. The bench read out the long list of vacancies across the tribunals and added that 19 presiding officers, 110 judicial members, and 111 technical numbers are pending in all the tribunals.

“This is the scenario of the tribunal. We do not know what is the stand of the government…”, said the Chief Justice.

The top court had said the delay by the Centre in filling up vacancies in various tribunals is effectively crippling their functioning and leaving people without legal remedies.

“The impression we are gathering is that it appears the bureaucracy does not want the tribunals. The Centre should clear its stand whether it really, really wants to continue the tribunals or close them down.”

Later in September, last year, the Central government had informed the top court that 84 appointments have been in six tribunals including the ITAT and the NCLT and no recommendations of the Search cum Selection Committees (SCSC) is pending then.

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