In a major push for judicial reforms and faster access to justice, a bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Monday issued a series of directions aimed at speeding up the hearing and disposal of bail pleas across courts in the country.
Under the new directions, bail matters will now have to be listed either weekly or fortnightly to avoid prolonged delays. The court also directed that fresh bail applications must be listed within a week of filing.
The bench further ordered mandatory filing of status reports before the first hearing of a bail plea. It also made it compulsory for a copy of every bail application to be served on the Advocate General.
In another key reform, bail pleas that are not taken up by courts will now be automatically relisted, ensuring that cases do not remain pending indefinitely. High Courts across the country have also been asked to fix an outer timeline for the speedy disposal of bail matters.
The directions are being seen as a significant intervention by the Supreme Court amid growing concerns over delays in bail hearings and prolonged incarceration of undertrial prisoners.
Separately, CJI Surya Kant also announced the launch of the “One Case, One Data” system, an ambitious digital integration initiative aimed at creating seamless judicial data connectivity across all levels of courts in India.
The new system will integrate case records and judicial data from the Supreme Court, High Courts, district courts and even taluka courts onto a common framework for the first time.
“This initiative is to strengthen this court's case management system through a multi-level integration with the database of High Courts, District Courts, and the Government. First time it's happening that the entire data will be now integrated, and while sitting in Supreme Court, we'll have all complete details up to the District Court and Taluka Courts, and similarly, Taluka Courts will also have all the connectivity here...” the CJI said.
The initiative is expected to improve judicial coordination, case tracking and access to records across India’s court system.
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