New Delhi, The practice of reserving high court judgments for months without disclosing them is a “cognizable disorder” that must be eradicated, the Supreme Court said on Tuesday, highlighting the need to ensure timely delivery of justice.
Deferring judgment Illness identified, to be eradicated: SCA bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Jayamalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi was hearing a plea saying that the Jharkhand High Court had orally passed a judgment dismissing a petition on December 4 last year and the judgment is yet to be uploaded.
The bench said the full judgment will be given to the lawyer by the end of next week.
Referring to the delay, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, who appeared for the petitioner, said, “It seems like a kind of lip service is going on… some message has to be sent. It amounts to playing with the majesty of the law.”
The CJI said, roughly there are two types of judges.
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“A hard-working judge who will listen to everyone and reserve even 10-15 matters. There are some judges who do not pass judgment after that. We are not in favor of anyone personally. It is a challenge before the judiciary and it is a detectable disorder. It has to be treated and eradicated and cannot be allowed to spread.”
The CJI noted another prevailing trend is that arguments are heard in some cases and posted again for further instructions.
He said that he will raise the matter in the upcoming meeting with the Chief Justice of the High Court.
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“We will discuss it among other agendas. We will try to find a solution to end such avoidable cases,” he said.
“In my 15 years as a High Court judge, I have never reserved a judgment and delivered a judgment within three months,” the CJI said.
The bench, in its order, referred to the facts of the case and said, “The Jharkhand High Court pronounced the judgment on December 4, 2025, in which the writ petition was dismissed. The judgment is yet to be uploaded. We have impressed upon the counsel appearing in the High Court that full reason for such delay or delay has not been provided. By the end of next week.”
The matter is now directed to be listed in the week commencing February 16.
In November 2025, the apex court directed all high courts to submit detailed reports on the timing of reserved judgments, including dates, announcements and uploading of reserved judgments.
It is monitoring compliance with its directives so that all certified copies of judgments clearly record these three dates.
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