The Supreme Court has expressed displeasure over the inability to complete the work of some High Court judges and has spoken about performance evidence. The court said that if a judge is hearing a criminal case in a day, he cannot expect to decide in 50 cases, but if a judge says that he will hear only one bail plea in a day, then he needs to assess.
According to PTI reports, the bench of Justice Suryakant and Justice N. Kotishwar Singh was hearing the petitions that were filed by some convicts found for life imprisonment and death penalty. He alleged that the Jharkhand High Court has not pronounced the decision on his criminal appeals, despite keeping the faasy safe for years. However, the High Court later ruled in his case and acquitted many convicts.
The Supreme Court said that it does not want to work like a school prince for high courts, but should have a self-mausing system to ensure that he does not have piles of files on the table. The court said, ‘There are also judges who work day and night and are disposing of the cases brilliantly, but there are some judges who are unfortunately unable to complete the work. Whatever the reason, good or bad, we do not know and maybe there may be some situations.
The Supreme Court said, ‘Suppose a judge is hearing a criminal appeal, so we do not expect him to decide on 50 cases in a day. Deciding on a criminal appeal in a day is a huge achievement in itself, but in the case of bail, if a judge says that I will decide only on a bail plea in a day, then it is a matter for which there is a need to do self -evaluation.
The Supreme Court said, ‘Our intention is not to act like a school principal and there should be extensive guidelines, so that the judges know what they have and how much they have to do. There is a legitimate hope of the general public from the judiciary.
Advocate Fauzia Shakeel, who appeared in the case, presented a chart on the position of the decisions given by various High Courts and emphasized that some High Courts have not provided data in the prescribed format. The bench asked him to file the high court figures within two weeks, where the cases were reserved. Also, directed to upload the date of announcement of decisions and the date of uploading them. Senior Advocate Ajit Sinha was asked to assist in the matter.
Justice Suryakant said that some high courts have a habit of unnecessarily postponed cases. He also said that it can be dangerous for the image of the judges, as has happened with some judges in the past.