The Supreme Court has launched a comprehensive examination of Uttar Pradesh's struggling criminal justice system, expanding a 35-year-old case into a broader investigation of pendency, prolonged undertrial incarceration, judicial vacancies, and delays in bail pleas.
A bench of justices JB Pardiwala and Ujjal Bhuyan quashed criminal proceedings pending since 1991, observing that the constitutional guarantee of a speedy trial under Article 21 cannot be reduced to a 'mere platitude.'
The court called for extensive state-wide data from the Allahabad High Court, indicating that the matter may evolve into a larger continuing mandamus on judicial delays and undertrial incarceration in Uttar Pradesh.
The case, which dates back to a 1989 FIR, highlights the systemic issues plaguing the state's justice system, with the trial still incomplete after 35 years.
The court noted that the accused, a police officer, was only 22 years old when the FIR was registered and is now 59, with the trial still ongoing.
The bench further noted that two co-accused had died during the pendency of proceedings, while the remaining two were acquitted in 2023 after the prosecution failed to examine even a single witness over more than three decades.
The court has directed the registrar general of the Allahabad High Court to provide detailed state-wide data on criminal pendency, undertrial detention, judicial vacancies, and pending bail applications by July 13.
