Supreme Court notice to Trial Judge and Allahabad HC for “Serious lapse” on the part of the Judge

In a strongly worded order, the Supreme Court has come down on Special Judge (SC/ST Act), Deoria, Uttar Pradesh for what it perceived it to be a “serious lapse” on the part of the judge “to abide by the orders of this Court.”.What irked the Bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna was the failure on the part of the judge to complete the trial of a case within the deadline prescribed by the Supreme Court..The Court has now issued notice to the Registrar General of Allahabad High Court and the Special Judge to explain the reasons for the delay..The Supreme Court had, on 9 December 2016, directed the trial judge to conclude the trial within six months. It had also noted that the trial court was free to pass orders if there were complaints regarding the conduct of the prosecution or that of the accused-respondent in influencing witnesses..However, after nearly two years, Special Judge (SC/ST Act) of Deoria, Uttar Pradesh, requested the Supreme Court to grant additional time to conclude the trial in the case and wrote a letter to the Supreme Court making the request..The Supreme Court, in its March 15, 2019 order, noted that from 29 January 2019, seven adjournments were granted by the Presiding Officer. Three of these adjournments were granted to the accused, the order stated..“This would prima facie show serious lack of concern on the part of the Presiding Officer to adhere to the time bound schedule for conclusion of the case that this Court had ordered.”.The Court also made scathing remarks on the conduct of the trial by the judge..“All that we would like to observe at this stage is that we do not understand what kind of inspections the Presiding Officer had carried out on as many as two occasions, which inhibited him from hearing the case. We also fail to understand as to how inspite of specific directions of this Court to complete the hearing of the case within a time bound manner, the Presiding Officer has granted as many as three adjournments to the accused. The aforesaid three adjournments have been granted after the case was fixed for arguments on 29.1.2019.”.The Court further stated that as per the information provided by the Supreme Court Registry, the dates of the trial mentioned by the Presiding Officer were incorrect..The Court, therefore, issued notice to the Special Judge and the Registrar General of Allahabad High Court. They have been asked to file reports explaining the reasons for the delay..The Court has now listed the matter to be heard after four weeks..Read the order below..Bar & Bench is available on WhatsApp. For real-time updates on stories, Click here to subscribe to our WhatsApp.