High Courts dealing with large number of bail petitions, some delay inevitable: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court recently observed that since there are a huge number of bail applications pending before High Courts in India, some delay in disposing of such matters is inevitable [Shaikh Uzma Feroz Hussain vs State of Maharashtra]..A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Pankaj Mithal also cautioned against routinely ordering the disposal of any case in a specified time schedule, since every court in India is already grappling with the issue of high case pendency.."In every High Court and especially the bigger High Courts, there are large number of Bail Petitions filed and therefore, some delay in disposal of the Bail Petitions is inevitable ... We are of the view that since every High Court and every Court in the country has a huge pendency, the Constitutional Court should avoid temptation of fixing a time-bound schedule for disposal of any case before any Court unless the situation is extra ordinary," the Court said..The Court made the observation on November 10 while refusing to direct the Bombay High Court to expeditiously dispose of a bail application.The bail plea, in this case, had been pending before the Bombay High Court since June. The Supreme Court observed that if there is any extraordinary urgency, the accused can always make a request for an expeditious hearing before the High Court itself. "We are sure that if the request is genuine, the concerned Bench will entertain it", the Supreme Court said, before dismissing the plea. .Advocates Sanjay Dubey, Sachin Pahwa, and Rameshwar Prasad Goyal represented the bail applicant, one Shaikh Uzma Hussain..Prosecution files large records to make bail hearings long; leads to mini-trials: Senior Advocate Rebecca John.On a related note, a Supreme Court bench led by Justice Oka had in May imposed costs of ₹1.5 lakhs on a builder for filing a plea urging the top court to order the Bombay High Court to dispose of a 2019 appeal within a time-bound schedule.At the time, the apex court also deprecated the petitioner's attempt to jump the queue, stating that a litigant who can afford to approach the Supreme Court cannot be prioritised over other litigants..[Read order]