The panel of five judges concluded that implementing a universal order to lift stay in all cases after six months should not occur, instead suggesting that the relevant courts should have the discretion to make such decisions.
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Constitution Bench Reverses 2018 Ruling on Stay Orders in Trials
On Thursday, a Constitution bench overturned a 2018 ruling by the Supreme Court, which mandated that any stay order in a civil or criminal trial should expire after six months. The panel of five judges, led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, concluded that a blanket directive to lift stays in all types of cases after six months isn’t appropriate, and instead emphasized that it’s more prudent to let individual courts determine the prioritization of cases.
Supreme Court Reconsiders Stay Orders: Background and Rationale
The panel also included justices AS Oka, JB Pardiwala, Pankaj Mithal, and Manoj Misra. In response to an appeal filed by the High Court Bar Association of Allahabad, the Supreme Court revisit its 2018 ruling in the case of Asian Resurfacing of Road Agency vs CBI, which was decid by a three-judge bench. This bench believed that imposing a time limit on stay orders could help reduce lengthy trial delays. The 2018 judgment stated that any stay granted in future cases would automatically expire after six months, unless an extension was granted through a reasoned order. Such an order was necessary to demonstrate that the case warranted an “exceptional” continuation of the stay, prioritizing it over the finalization of the trial.
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