The Supreme Court has directed all High Courts to quickly provide data on delays in framing charges under the BNSS. This move aims to create strict guidelines and prevent long custody periods without charges.
The Supreme Court has told all High Courts in the country that they must quickly give the required information to the amici curiae (independent legal experts who help the Court) about the long delays happening in Trial Courts when it comes to framing charges.
The Court said that Chief Justices of every High Court can make special committees to collect the data from all districts and then send it to the amici.
This direction has come because the Supreme Court is planning to set clear guidelines to stop unnecessary delays in framing charges in criminal cases.
Senior Advocates Siddharth Luthra and Nagamuthu were appointed as amici curiae after the Supreme Court noticed that many Trial Courts are not following Section 251(b) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).
This law clearly says that in cases that must be tried by a Sessions Court, charges must be framed within 60 days of the first hearing.
However, as reported by Live Law, the Court noted that this rule is being violated in many courts. Because of these delays, some accused persons are sitting in jail for months—or even years—without charges being framed.
In an earlier hearing, a petitioner told the Court that even after two years of custody, charges had still not been framed. The bench of Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice NV Anjaria then appointed Luthra as amicus.
When the matter came up again, Luthra informed the Court that he had already written letters to several High Courts asking for the required information. But most High Courts had not replied.
Only the High Courts of Kerala, Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, Telangana, Madras, and Allahabad had submitted their data.
He also said that one High Court wrote to him saying that it was still dealing with a case from 2022, explaining that the courts were giving priority to older cases where the accused were in custody.
After hearing this, Justice Kumar reacted and said:
“He or she has to burn the midnight oil, that’s all.”
Soon after, the Supreme Court came to know that the “2022 old cases” mentioned by the High Court were actually BNSS cases, the same category where the 60-day rule applies strictly.
Luthra also explained to the bench that he had asked only for BNSS-related data because collecting similar data for older CrPC cases would be extremely difficult.
He said that data from CrPC cases would go back many years. He requested the Court to give him a few more weeks so that he could collect information from the remaining High Courts.
The Supreme Court agreed and passed a detailed order. It noted that in the main case before the Court, charges had finally been framed on August 2, 2025, but the larger problem of delay across the country still needed serious examination.
The order stated that several High Courts had already shared their data and that more responses had arrived recently but had not yet been put on record. The Court appreciated the efforts of the amicus and the State, calling it a “commendable job”.
This move by the Supreme Court shows that it is focusing strongly on speeding up criminal procedures so that accused persons do not suffer long jail time without proper charges being framed.
The Court’s upcoming guidelines are expected to improve accountability and ensure faster justice across India.
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