Supreme Court Asks High Courts To Prioritise Disposal Of Matters Which Stayed Trials In Heinous Offences
The Court said it was disturbed by the pendency of a criminal revision petition in the Rajasthan High Court for 22 years.
Expressing concern over a criminal revision remaining pending for more than 23 years due to the operation of an interim order, the Supreme Court on Thursday (January 8) asked all the High Courts to promptly take up cases where trials in heinous offences such as murder, rape, and dowry death have been stayed because of interim orders passed by the High Courts.
“If criminal trials in such serious offences remain pending for years together on the strength of interim orders passed by the High Courts, it would lead to nothing but mockery of justice. Justice has to be done with all the parties. Justice cannot be done only with the accused persons. Justice has to be done even with the victim and the family members of the victim. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”, observed a bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and KV Viswanathan.
The bench requested “the Chief Justices of all the High Courts to ensure that the petitions wherein interim orders are passed holding up the trials should be immediately taken up for hearing, more particularly in sensitive and serious matters like murder, dowry death, rape etc.”
The case stemmed from the death of a woman within a year of marriage, leading to an FIR in 2002 alleging dowry harassment and murder. Although charges were framed the same year, the trial was stayed in 2003 due to a criminal revision in the Rajasthan High Court, which remained pending for nearly two decades until taken up for hearing only in 2023 before being dismissed in 2025, prompting the accused to approach the Supreme Court.
Dismissing the appeal, the bench, at the outset, remarked "this litigation is very disturbing. What we are about to record is something very painful. Who is responsible, only a detailed inquiry at our end will decide.", further expressing shock over the institutional delay in the Rajasthan High Court, which had kept the trial pending for nearly two decades in such a serious offence.
“We would also like to know from the Registrar General of the High Court as to how many Criminal Revision Petitions came to be heard and disposed of between 2001 and 2026. We want the High Court to provide us with a break up of how many criminal revision petitions were filed in the year 2001 and how many came to be disposed of. We want this break up right up to the year 2026.”, the court added.
Furthermore, it asked the High Court about “how many times the Criminal Revision Petition filed by the petitioners…was notified for hearing from the date of its filing till the date it came to be dismissed.”
Also, the court criticized the Rajasthan government for keeping quiet and not taking any steps to get the Criminal Revision Petition heard and decided on merits.
“Why during this interregnum period of 23 years, the State of Rajasthan kept quiet and did not take any steps to get the Criminal Revision Petition heard and decided on merits.”, the court asked.
The court directed the transmission of the order's copy “to Secretary Generals/Registrar Generals of all the High Courts so as to have the same placed before the Hon'ble Chief Justices.”
The matter is next listed on January 15, after the file is received from the High Court, to proceed to pass further orders.
Cause Title: VIJAY KUMAR & ORS. VERSUS THE STATE OF RAJASTHAN
Citation : 2026 LiveLaw (SC) 25
For Petitioner(s) : Mr. Abhishek Gupta, AOR Ms. Sheena Taqui, Adv.
For Respondent(s) : Mr. Shiv Mangal Sharma, Sr. Adv.