The Supreme Court of India is addressing the impact of stay orders by appellate courts on criminal trial progress. It has called for responses from eight states and their high courts in a case initiated from concerns raised in a 2021 order. The CBI has also been tasked with improving its prosecution unit and addressing systemic issues.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India has taken suo motu cognizance of the impact of stay orders granted by appellate courts on the pace of criminal trials, directing responses from eight states and their respective high courts. The case, titled “In Re: Adverse Effect of Stay Orders Granted by Appellate Courts on the Pace of Trials”, was initiated following concerns raised in a November 8, 2021, order by a bench led by former Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar, in its first hearing of the matter, directed the concerned high courts to submit responses within six weeks, scheduling the next hearing for the week commencing March 17, 2025. The court also ordered that the affidavit filed by the CBI be served on the standing counsels of the respective state governments.
The states involved include Maharashtra, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Kerala, and Mizoram, which had earlier withdrawn general consent to the CBI under Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act, 1946.
The case stems from the apex court’s acknowledgment of how stay orders affect trial proceedings despite previously established judicial parameters. In its 2021 order, the court emphasized,
“The stay orders granted by appellate courts adversely affect the pace of trials, despite this court having laid down parameters for grant of such stays.”
The CBI has been tasked with addressing systemic issues such as strengthening its prosecution unit and increasing conviction rates.
According to a 2019 affidavit by the CBI:
- Over 13,200 cases involving the agency are pending across various courts, including 706 in the Supreme Court.
- Of these, 488 petitions were filed by the accused, while 218 were filed by the CBI.
The agency highlighted delays in receiving specific consent for investigations in states that withdrew general consent. Between 2018 and 2021, over 150 such requests were pending with these states.
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