To Tackle 7 Lakh Criminal Appeals, Supreme Court Advises HCs : Use AI Tools, Digitise Records, Appoint Case Management Registrars

Noting that over 7.24 lakh criminal appeals are pending across the High Courts in the country, the Supreme Court has requested all High Courts to consider a series of suggestions to address the backlog.“As of 22nd March, 2025, the total pendency of criminal appeals (appeals against conviction and acquittal) is 7,24,192…Therefore, there is a huge problem faced by all the High Courts”, the Court observed.The Court expressly endorsed several of the suggestions including case record digitization, procedural rule amendments for automatic requisitioning of trial records once notice is issued in appeals, use of its AI translation tool SUAS for translating court documents, and creation of the post of Registrar (Court and Case Management) in all High Courts to streamline case readiness. It endorsed the amici curiae's suggestion that High Courts with multiple benches consider hearing appeals via video conferencing to help benches with lower pendency assist the principal seat.A bench comprising Justice Abhay S. Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan passed the order in a suo motu petition concerning policy strategy for the grant of bail to convicts whose appeals are pending for long periods.The Court also reiterated that the High Courts should ordinarily suspend sentence in cases of fixed-term sentence. It referred to the judgments in Bhagwan Rama Shinde Gosai v. State of Gujarat (1999), NCB v. Lakhwinder Singh (2025), and Atul alias Ashutosh v. State of MP (2024). “This court has consistently laid down that when there is a fixed period of sentence, normally the power of suspension of sentence under section 389 of CrPC should be exercised liberally unless there are exceptional circumstances brought on record. The HCs are bound by the law laid down by this court on this behalf. This is significant in the context of the fact that the figures show that in some of the HCs, in case of large number of appeals against conviction that accused have been denied bail”, the Court stated.The Court had earlier directed all High Courts to submit comprehensive data on the pendency of criminal appeals, broken down by bench composition and the bail status of the accused According to the data provided, as of March 22, 2025, the total pendency of criminal appeals—both against conviction and acquittal—stood at 7,24,192. The Allahabad High Court accounted for the highest share with 2.77 lakh pending appeals, followed by the Madhya Pradesh High Court with 1.15 lakh pending appeals. Even some smaller High Courts showed high pendency, the Court noted. The Patna High Court had 44,664 pending appeals, Punjab and Haryana High Court had 79,326, Rajasthan High Court had 56,455, and the Bombay High Court had 28,257 pending appeals. Chhattisgarh, a smaller state, had more than 18,000 pending appeals, the Court noted.The Court asked all High Courts to consider various suggestions given by amici curiae senior advocates Liz Matthew and Gaurav Agarwal as well as the Supreme Court Committee for Model Case Flow Management Rules for the High Courts to reduce backlog.Adoption of the Model Action Plan For Reduction Of ArrearsThe Court noted that a Model Action Plan for Reduction of Arrears in High Courts has been prepared by the Supreme Court Committee for Model Case Flow Management Rules for the High Courts. This model action plan has been approved by the Chief Justice of India on the administrative side and forwarded to all the High Courts. The Court asked all High Courts to adopt the model action plan with suitable modifications.One-time physical verification of pending cases in High Courts and trial courts for data accuracyThe Court noted that the Committee has recommended a one-time physical verification of cases pending before High Courts and trial courts to ensure data accuracy. This includes correcting data entries on High Court websites and the National Judicial Data Grid.The model action plan includes various components, including the preparation of a list of targeted criminal appeals. The Court noted that the National Court Management Systems (NCMS) has also undertaken the preparation of baseline reports on case management, including one concerning the High Courts and District Judiciary for the year 2024. The Court directed the Registrar in charge of NCMS to forward a copy of this report to all High Courts.In High Courts with multiple benches, video conferencing (VC) can be used to allow benches with lower pendency to hear criminal appeals from the principal seatThe Court endorsed the amici curiae's suggestion that High Courts with multiple benches should consider hearing appeals via video conferencing. This would help benches with lower pendency assist the principal seat in disposing of more cases. “We also accept suggestion that in case of HCs with multiple benches the HCs on the administrative side are to examine possibility of permitting hearing appeals through VC so that if principal seat of an HC has more pendency than other benches, disposal can be...

To Tackle 7 Lakh Criminal Appeals, Supreme Court Advises HCs : Use AI Tools, Digitise Records, Appoint Case Management Registrars

Amisha Shrivastava

The Court suggested to make rules to ensure that soft copies of lower court records are automatically transmitted once HC admits an appeal.

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