The Supreme Court has emphasized that the Constitutional Court should refrain from setting specific, rigid deadlines for the resolution of cases in lower courts, except in exceptional circumstances. This position was articulated when the Supreme Court declined to consider a petition requesting a mandate to expedite the resolution of a criminal case within a predetermined timeframe.
A bench headed by Justices Abhay S. Oka and Pankaj Mithal has noted that in each high court, particularly the larger ones, a substantial volume of bail petitions is routinely filed. Consequently, it is inevitable that there will be some delay in processing and resolving these petitions.
"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 Supreme Court was considering a petition filed by Shaikh Uzma Feroz Hussain, who requested the court to instruct the Maharashtra High Court to expedite the decision on his bail application within a specific timeframe.
The Supreme Court stated that in cases of exceptional urgency, the petitioner has the option to approach the relevant bench. The court expressed confidence that if the request is indeed genuine, the bench in question will consider and address it accordingly.
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