SC sets three-month deadline for reserved judgements, says bail orders should be pronounced same day

The Supreme Court on Friday directed that judgements in cases that are reserved should be delivered within three months, Live Law reported.

Orders on bail applications should be pronounced on the same day, a bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant said while issuing “binding directions” to High Courts to prevent delays in pronouncing judgements.

It added that if a bail order is reserved, it must be pronounced and uploaded by the following day.

The court also said that matters involving personal liberty, anticipatory bail and regular bail must be decided with urgency.

It directed that the orders granting bail or suspension of sentence must be communicated to jail authorities as soon as they are pronounced. The convict or the undertrial should be released the same day or at the latest the next day, unless they are required in any other case or delay in complying with bail conditions, the court added.

The directions came while the court was hearing an application alleging delays in the release of a High Court judgement.

The application said that the Jharkhand High Court had pronounced its judgement in December 2025, but the order had neither been uploaded on the court’s website nor made available to the litigant’s counsel, Bar and Bench reported.

Edited by Leah Thomas....

Read more