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Asian Resurfacing of Road Agency P. Ltd. & Anr. v. Central Bureau of Investigation

Criminal Appeal · 2018 INSC 282Decided 28 Mar 2018
Criminal Appeal Nos. 1375-1376 of 2013
Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel · Justice Navin Sinha · Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman

Background

This three-judge judgment answers a referred question; it does not decide the appeals themselves. The question was how far a High Court can entertain a challenge to an order framing charges, given that trials often remain stayed for years.

Decision Breakdown

This is not a final judgment in the appeals. The Court held that an order framing charges is neither purely interlocutory nor final, and that challenges to it should be entertained only in the rarest cases. It directed that any stay of a civil or criminal trial will lapse after six months unless extended by a reasoned order. The matters were sent to the appropriate bench.

Lesson Learnt

A stay on a trial does not last indefinitely: it ends after six months unless the court extends it with reasons.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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