I have suffered as a High Court judge due to orders of Supreme Court for speedy disposal: Justice Abhay Oka

Supreme Court judge Justice Abhay S Oka on Tuesday shared how he was affected by apex court orders as a Bombay High Court judge [Arun Ramachandran Pillai v Directorate of Enforcement]..A Bench of Justices Oka and Augustine George Masih was hearing a plea against an adjournment by the Delhi High Court in a bail matter connected to a money laundering case. The accused moved the apex court seeking directions to the High Court to dispose of the case expeditiously. Justice Oka took exception to such a prayer."How can we direct the High Court to hear (and dispose of) on a particular date itself? Everyday they will be having so many anticipatory bail applications also", he remarked..He then went on to briefly explain one of the reasons why he is opposed to the apex court passing such directions. "I have suffered due to orders of Supreme Court as a High Court judge, when I could not hear and dispose of matters the same day (as directed)."The remarks came while hearing a petition by Hyderabad-based businessman Arun Ramachandran Pillai, an accused in the Delhi Excise Policy case.Pillai is alleged to be part of the 'South Group' that bribed Aam Aadmi Party (leaders) to tweak the national capital's liquor policy in their favour.After Justice Oka refused to direct that the High Court dispose of the matter on an early fixed date, the matter was ultimately dismissed as withdrawn.The Delhi High Court's August 1 order of adjournment was passed Justice Neena Bansal Krishna.Justice Krishna had recently refused to grant bail and quash the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in connection with the Excise Policy case..Recently, the Supreme Court had reiterated that it cannot compel High Courts to take up cases in a time-bound manner.A Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Prasanna B Varale had clarified that High Courts are not subordinate to the apex court..In February 2023, the Supreme Court had observed that the High Courts are also constitutional courts and cannot be regarded as subordinate to the Supreme Court.A year earlier, it had held that High Courts do not function under the administrative superintendence of the Supreme Court.