EquiCorp Associates

  1. Background In a judgment that will reverberate across every High Court in the country, the Supreme Court of India has issued a set of sweeping, constitutionally enforceable directions aimed at eliminating systemic delays between the reservation of judgments and their actual pronouncement — with a specific and urgent focus on bail matters and the personal liberty of undertrial prisoners. The matter arose from persistent concerns about High Courts reserving judgments and then sitting on them for weeks, months, or even longer — a practice that, while procedurally permissible, had become a source of serious injustice, particularly for those languishing in custody awaiting a bail decision that had already been argued before the Court. 2. Constitutional Basis: Article 142 The Supreme Court invoked its extraordinary jurisdiction under Article 142 of the Constitution of India, which grants it the power to pass any decree or order necessary to do complete justice in any...