Non-pronouncement of verdicts Six on death row four lifers moves SC

New Delhi, Jul 14 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to examine the plea of 10 convicts, including six on death row, who said the Jharkhand High Court did not decide appeals against their conviction despite reserving the verdicts two-three years ago.
     A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi issued notice to the Jharkhand government and sought its response on their plea.
     Advocate Fauzia Shakil, appearing for the convicts, submitted the high court reserved its verdicts on the appeals of the convicts against their conviction and sentence awarded to them by the trial court after hearing arguments for two to three years ago in 2022 and 2023.
     She said nine of 10 convicts are imprisoned in Birsa Munda Central Jail at Hotwar in Ranchi whereas one is lodged in Central Jail in Dumka.
     Shakil called it a "fit case" to suspend the sentence in line with the previous verdicts of the apex court.
     The bench noted the high court judge, who heard the appeals in all the 10 cases, was the same.
     The convicts argued they were sentenced for heinous crimes by the trial courts and had undergone six to over 16 years of imprisonment.
     "Therefore, the petitioners are constrained to invoke the extraordinary jurisdiction of this court under Article 32 of the Constitution to ensure their fundamental right to life and personal liberty and all rights flowing from Article 21 are protected," their plea argued.
     The four lifers made a similar plea against the high court for not pronouncing the verdicts for years after reserving the orders.
     "Present petitioners have been convicted and sentenced to death or rigorous imprisonment for life. It is pertinent to note that each one of them has served an actual custody period ranging between over 6 years to over 16 years,” the plea said.
     It added that the petitioners and their families have repeatedly tried to raise the issue of non-pronouncement of judgments by the Jharkhand high court including to the chief justice, but their efforts have gone unanswered.
     The plea said even the Jharkhand high court rules provide for disposal of reserved judgements within six weeks of conclusion of arguments.
     On May 5, the top court frowned upon the high court and sought sought reports within a month from all high courts on cases where judgements were reserved on or before January 31.
     Terming such non-pronouncement of verdicts by courts a "very disturbing issue", the top court had said it will lay down some mandatory guidelines for the high courts.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)