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Pila Pahan @ Peela Pahan & Ors. v. State of Jharkhand & Anr.

Writ Petition (Criminal) · 2026 INSC 604Decided 29 May 2026
W.P.(Crl.) No.-000169-000169 - 2025
Justice Joymalya Bagchi · Justice Vipul M. Pancholi

Background

Four petitioners, convicted by trial courts in Jharkhand and sentenced to life imprisonment, had their criminal appeals heard and reserved for judgment by the Jharkhand High Court between January and June 2022, but the judgments remained unpronounced for years even though the petitioners had already served over a decade in custody. They approached the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the High Court to pronounce the reserved judgments. As the Court investigated, it discovered the problem was widespread, the Jharkhand High Court alone had 56 matters pending pronouncement for months to years, and it expanded the case to cover delayed pronouncement of reserved judgments across all High Courts in the country, tagging several similar petitions together.

Decision Breakdown

While the proceedings were pending, all four original petitioners were released after the Jharkhand High Court eventually decided their appeals, but the Supreme Court kept the matter alive because of the larger systemic issue. With the assistance of an amicus curiae who analysed reports from High Courts nationwide, the Court exercised its power under Article 142 of the Constitution to lay down comprehensive, binding, nationwide guidelines: reserved judgments must ordinarily be pronounced within 3 months of reservation (with special urgency for personal liberty matters like bail and criminal appeals of convicts in custody), reasoned judgments must be uploaded within 24 hours of pronouncement, and where only an operative order is announced first, the full reasoned judgment must follow within 7-15 days. The guidelines also create escalation mechanisms: automated monthly reports to the Chief Justice of each High Court, mandatory reassignment of a case to a new Bench if a judgment is not delivered even after being flagged, and a right for litigants to apply for early judgment or reassignment if deadlines are missed. The Court clarified these directions are not a criticism of any individual judge but a structural fix for institutional delay, and disposed of the writ petitions in terms of the guidelines.

Lesson Learnt

Litigants whose case has been "reserved for judgment" by a High Court are not without recourse if it drags on indefinitely. The Supreme Court has now fixed firm outer limits (generally 3 months, shorter for liberty-related matters) and given every litigant the right to formally apply to the Chief Justice for early pronouncement or reassignment of the case if those limits are breached.

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

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