A Bihar-based lawyer approached the Supreme Court raising grievances related to the low case disposal rate of the Patna High Court and urged the top court to issue directions to appoint 5 ad hoc judges dedicated exclusively for deciding the pending bail applications.
The plea has been filed by lawyer Pramod Kumar Pandey, who practiced in Patna High Court through his advocate Roshan Santhalia.
The lawyer in his plea said that he has preferred Public Interest Litigation to enforce fundamental rights, particularly Article 21, which encompasses within its fold, the right to speedy trial and justice, of persons accused of various offenses.
The petitioner said that petition is also directed against the abysmally low case disposal rate of the Patna High Court, especially over virtual hearings since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020.
"The inefficiency and lethargic dealing by the High Court reached a new high in 2021."
As per the data provided by the NJDG, the case clearance rate of the Patna High Court dipped as low as 41.98% in the year 2021 as against 87.98% in 2020, making it the least efficient High Court in 2021 near by Rajasthan High Court with a case clearance percentage of 59.37% for the year 2021, the petition said.
"Within the criminal cases category, the disposal rate of bail applications during the ongoing pandemic is concerning. Thousands of applicants are standing in queues seeking an opportunity of being heard. While over 40,000 bail applications have been filed in the year 2021 (to date), hardly any have been listed and heard by the Hon'ble Justices of the Patna High Court," read the petition.
"The Cause List for 19.07.2021 reflects that the bail applications which are being listed for hearing are those which were filed in the year 2020, and even those are being heard and disposed of at an abysmally low rate," the petition said.
"Needless to mention that the group of Applicants who filed these Applications/Petitions include undertrial prisoners languishing in jails for a long duration now with no hope of trial in sight as the Courts are practically non-functional; others are prisoners having pressable concerns, however, the opportunity to present their case for bail has become a distant dream," the petition said.
The petition also mentioned the functioning of Patna High Court at about half its capacity.
The matter will be heard by the Supreme Court on Monday October 10.
The petition has sought to issue direction to the Registrar, High Court of Judicature at Patna for expediting the hearing process and submit monthly disposal rate of bail petitions before the SC; and to direct the Chief Justice of the High Court of Judicature at Patna to take appropriate measures through which the bail remedy becomes efficacious for all those who have been given token numbers and are in the queue waiting for their hearing.
The petition also sought to direct the Registrar / Chief Justice of the High Court of Judicature at Patna to immediately commence the procedure for appointing 5 ad hoc judges dedicated exclusively for deciding the pending bail applications under Article 224A of the Constitution in pursuance of the Lok Prahari v. Union of India & Others decided by the Supreme Court.
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