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Today, the court while hearing the matter noted that the vacation of stay after 6 months was brought into place in 2018 as High Courts had issued stay orders that lasted for years.
A Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court today reserved its verdict on the question whether interim stay orders granted by courts in civil and criminal cases can be vacated after six months unless specifically extended.
Notably, a bench of CJI DY Chandrachud, Justice Abhay S Oka, Justice JB Pardiwala, Justice Pankaj Mithal, and Justice Manoj Misra had begun hearing the matter today only.
Court was hearing a reference to its judgment from 2018 in Asian Resurfacing Of Road Agency v. Central Bureau Of Investigation to a Constitution bench.
In said judgment a three-judge bench had directed that all stay orders would be vacated after six months unless specifically extended.
Today, Senior Advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for the High Court Bar Association Allahabad, argued against automatic vacation and acknowledged the delay in court proceedings, specifically in High Courts at Allahabad and Patna.
Court also considered what course of action should be followed for stay orders issued by High Courts under Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code in petitions filed for quashing of criminal cases.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta also highlighted instances where contempt cases were filed against judges, for not resuming trials, suggesting that the solution might be more severe than the underlying issue of delayed justice.
Case Title: High Court Bar Association Allahabad vs. State of Uttar Pradesh and ors
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