Supreme Court directs High Courts to preserve and provide details of judgments delivered on their websites:

News Topical, Digital Desk : To enhance transparency and accountability, the Supreme Court on Wednesday directed all high courts in the country to create a dashboard on their websites showing the reserved judgments, pronouncements made after January 31 and the date of their uploading on their platforms.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi took a critical view of several high courts, including the Jharkhand High Court, not delivering verdicts in criminal and civil cases for years even after hearing final arguments and reserving their judgments.

The bench said these figures should be made public. Justice Surya Kant said, "Everyone should know how many judgments were reserved, how many orders were passed in how many cases, and on what date the judgments were uploaded on the High Court website."

Agreeing with Justice Surya Kant, Justice Bagchi said, "Creating a dashboard or a separate window on the High Court website will demonstrate the accountability of the judiciary to the public."

The apex court was hearing a number of petitions, including one in which the apex court had complained that the Jharkhand High Court had not delivered its verdict on their appeals against conviction and sentence for several years, even after hearing final arguments and reserving the verdict.

However, soon after the Supreme Court's directive, the Jharkhand High Court ruled in their cases and acquitted most of them of the charges. Similarly, other convicts lodged in various jails in Jharkhand also approached the Supreme Court seeking similar directions.

The bench then expanded the scope of the case and sought details from all the High Courts of such cases where the verdicts were not delivered for months even after reserving the judgments.

On Wednesday, Fauzia Shakeel, amicus curiae and advocate in the case, stated that seven high courts had not submitted their reports. The bench took this seriously and directed the Allahabad, Punjab and Haryana, Patna, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, Kerala, Telangana, and Guwahati high courts to file their reports within two weeks, or their registrars general would be present in person at the next hearing.