SC notice to Allahabad HC on delay in cases

NEW DELHI: Taking cognisance of inordinate delays by Allahabad HC in deciding criminal appeals which lead to convicts languishing in jails for years, the Supreme Court has sought response from the HC on various issues including the process followed by it while listing criminal appeals and the number of benches available to take up pending appeals.
A bench headed by Justice U U Lalit, S Ravindra Bhat, P S Narasimha and Sudhanshu Dhulia issued notice to the registrar general of Allahabad HC and directed him to respond on why appeals have not been decided expeditiously.
It passed the order on an appeal filed by two convicts — one of them completed three and a half years out of a seven-year sentence and the other has undergone more than eight and a half years out of a sentence of 10 years. They approached the apex court through their advocate Rishi Malhotra, alleging that there had been an inordinate delay on the part of the HC in granting hearing on their pleas, resulting in both spending more than half of their sentences awarded by the trial court in jail. They pleaded for grant of bail till their appeals were decided by the HC.