Synopsis: 91,568 bail applications were noted to be pending before the High Courts, while 1,96,861 such applications were pending before the district courts.
The Supreme Court on Friday, called on all courts in the judicial hierarchy to resolve the issue of bail applications that are not being heard and to be disposed off in a timely manner, in its order granting interim bail to Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami.
The judgement delivered by the Bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and Indira Banerjee referred to the statistics on the amount of bail applications pending before the High Courts and the subordinate courts of the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG).
It was noted that before the High Courts, 91,568 bail applications were pending, while 1,96,861 such pleas were pending before the district courts.
The Court described the information given by the NJDG as a valuable instrument for promoting access to justice, particularly in matters of liberty. The High Court Chief Justices were advised to use the date in order to democratize access to justice.
“In their administrative capacity, the Chief Justices of each High Court should use the ICT tools available to them to ensure that access to justice is democratised and equitably allocated.”
There is an immediate need for courts in India through the judicial hierarchy to address the systemic issue of not being heard and disposed off with expedition bail applications.
In addition, administrative judges responsible for district courts were also encouraged to control the district judiciary’s pendency.
The judgement given by Justice Chandrachud directs, calling on courts across the country to resolve the issue of pending bail applications, as the NJDG data shows, since there is an urgent need for courts across India’s judicial hierarchy to remedy the institutional issue of bail applications that are not heard and disposed off by expedition.
The judgement, ending on a hopeful note, says that it is the court’s sincere hope that it will be acutely aware of the need to broaden the liberty footprint and use its strategy as a decision-making standard for future cases involving the grant of bail.