On Tuesday(6th August),The Supreme Court of India has directed the Gujarat High Court to provide a detailed report on the pendency and management of civil suits. This order, issued by a Bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, aims to address key issues affecting civil court proceedings in the state.
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NEW DELHI: On Tuesday(6th August), The Supreme Court of India has called for a detailed report from the Gujarat High Court regarding the pendency and management of civil suits in the state. This directive came from a Bench comprising Justice Surya Kant and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, who sought comprehensive details on several critical aspects affecting civil court proceedings in Gujarat.
The Supreme Court’s order was prompted by an extraordinary delay observed in a specific civil suit pending before a trial court in Gujarat. The Bench noted that it had taken approximately 18 years for the court to frame issues and an additional 3 years to begin recording the plaintiff’s evidence. This significant delay highlighted systemic issues within the judicial process.
Bench’s Observations and Remarks
Visibly concerned, the Bench inquired if such delays were prevalent in other civil suits as well.
“We are disappointed to observe that a civil suit for recovery, filed in 2001, only had issues framed in 2019 and plaintiffs’ evidence began in 2022. The prolonged delay in a case involving the recovery of public funds is indeed a troubling situation.”
-remarked a visibly upset Justice Surya Kant.
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Details Sought by the Supreme Court
The Supreme Court has requested the Registrar General of the Gujarat High Court to provide a detailed report within eight weeks, addressing several specific areas:
- The average pendency of civil suits in different sessions and divisions.
- The average duration of a civil suit.
- Allocation of total cases, specifically how many cases are assigned to a civil judge cum judicial magistrate on average.
- The total number of pending cases in civil courts.
- The infrastructure provided to each court.
- The number of civil appeals and miscellaneous matters pending before the first appellate court/sessions trial court.
- The average duration of each civil appeal to trial.
- The type of infrastructure available to the first appellate courts/sessions courts.
Submission of the Report
The Supreme Court has directed that the report be submitted on the administrative side in a sealed cover.
“We direct the Registrar General of the Gujarat High Court to submit a status report for review by the Supreme Court’s appropriate administrative committee. The information provided by the Registrar General to the Supreme Court’s Secretary General should be submitted in a sealed envelope and sent within 8 weeks.”
-the order stated.
Advocate Jesal Wahi appeared for the appellant in this case. The Supreme Court’s directive aims to bring to light the extensive delays and inadequacies within the civil judicial system in Gujarat, seeking to address and rectify the underlying issues.
