A bench of Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice Sree Chandrashekhar directed so while hearing a matter that relates to a 2020 order of the Supreme Court, by which the trial court was directed to conclude the trial expeditiously within one year. However, the trial remained unconcluded years later, which prompted the Supreme Court to intervene again.

In January 2026, the Supreme Court noted that despite the 2020 order, the trial was yet to be concluded. Hence, the trial court was directed to submit a report. The report was not submitted even by February 2026, following which the Supreme Court granted a further two weeks time to do the same. When the report still was not filed, the Court again recorded the default in March 2026.

Due to the continued non-compliance, the Supreme Court had directed the Registrar General of the Allahabad High Court to apprise the trial court for sending a report immediately, after which a report was finally received on 12.05.2026, when the Supreme Court also directed that the trial be completed within the next six months. The trial court was also required to file its first status report on or before 21.08.2026.

It is to be noted that even this deadline was not met. Taking a serious view of this repeated non-compliance, the Court has directed the Registrar General of the Allahabad High Court to initiate a preliminary inquiry against the concerned judicial officer and submit the report to the Supreme Court within fifteen days. The bench also made it clear that based on the outcome of the preliminary inquiry, it would consider whether to initiate a departmental inquiry against the judicial officer or not.

The matter is next listed for September 21, 2026, when the Court will consider the preliminary inquiry report to decide on further course of action.

Case: Farid Ahmad Khan v Gyan Chand Mogha (Dead) Through LRs & Ors

Coram: Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice Shree Chandrashekhar

Appearance:

For Petitioner: Mr Rohit Amit Sthalekar, AOR and Mr Siddhant Singh, Adv.

For Respondent: Ms Abha Jain, AOR and Mr Gaurav Jain, Adv.