The Supreme Court said on Wednesday that it must establish pan India guidelines to address the issue that results in a massive backlog of cases in the judiciary, expressing its frustration over the years long delays in criminal case trials caused by non framing of charges even after chargesheets are filed.
Even after the chargesheets are submitted, the trial courts do not frame the charges for three to four years, according to a bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N V Anjaria, which requested assistance from Attorney General R Venkataramani and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta.
"We have repeatedly observed that even months and years after the chargesheet was filed, the charges are not being formed. One of the main causes of the trial's delay is this.
"The trial cannot start until the charges in a criminal case are framed. The top court stated, "As a result, this situation appears to be common in most courts, and we are of the considered opinion that certain directives need to be issued pan India in this regard."
Siddharth Luthra, a senior attorney, was designated as an amicus curiae to support the court in this case.
The bench stated, "We also permit the petitioner's counsel to furnish a copy of the petitioner and the present order to the Attorney General as we propose to issue directions if required for all courts across the country," when it listed the case two weeks later.
The accused's attorney told the bench, which was considering his bail request in a criminal case from Bihar, that although a chargesheet had been filed, no charges had been brought for the previous two years.
According to the highest court, a charge must be filed within 60 days of the initial hearing in instances that can only be tried by a court of sessions under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).
According to Justice Kumar, the trial court's failure to frame charges in criminal cases and its failure to frame issues in civil cases are the reasons behind the delays in trial completion.
"Why does it take so long to file charges? Non framing of charges in criminal proceedings and non-framing of issues in civil cases.
"We are interested in learning about the challenges and will provide guidance to all courts nationwide. The bench stated at the beginning, "We propose to do it."
S Nagamuthu, a senior counsel and former high court judge, was also asked to assist the top court.
There are significant delays between the submission of a chargesheet and the formulation of charges, according to the attorney for the Bihar government.
In a same vein, another attorney noted that Maharashtra is in a similar predicament. A different panel of the Supreme Court recently raised worry about 600 criminal cases in which charges have not yet been filed, saying that "it was a shocking state of arrears".
The top court has asked Maharashtra's district courts for information on these instances.
