Supreme Court asks Gujarat High Court for report on pendency of civil suits in State

The Supreme Court on Tuesday called for a detailed report from the Gujarat High Court on civil suits and its pendency in the courts in Gujarat [Gujarat Industrial Investment Corporation Limited v. Varanasi Srinivas and Others]..A Bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan also sought details about the total pendency of cases in civil courts in Gujarat, the average life of a civil suit as well as the infrastructure provided to each court.The Court passed the order after noting the extraordinary delay in proceedings in a civil suit pending before a trial court in Gujarat.The Court observed that it had taken around 18 years for the concerned court in Gujarat to frame issues and further 3 years for taking plaintiff's evidenceThe Bench was seen visibly concerned and enquired from the counsel for the appellant whether this was the status in other civil suits as well."We are disappointed to note that the civil suit for recovery was filed in 2001. Going by High Court, the issues were framed in 2019 and plaintiffs evidence commenced in 2022. If this is fate of a suit for recovery of public money, its nothing but an alarming situation," a visibly upset Justice Kant orally remarked..The Court deemed it appropriate to seek a detailed report from the Registrar General of the Gujarat High Court on the following aspects within a period of eight weeks..- the average pendency of civil suits in different sessions and divisions;- the average life of civil suit;- allocation of total cases i.e., how many total cases are allocated to civil judge cum judicial magistrate on average basis;- the total pendency at the civil courts;- the infrastructure provided to each court;- how many civil appeals and miscellaneous matters are pending before the first appellate court/sessions trial court;- what is the average life of each such civil appeals to trial?; and- what kind of infrastructure has been provided to the first appellate courts/sessions courts.The report has to be submitted on the administrative side in a sealed cover, the Court said."We direct the registrar general of Gujarat High Court to submit a status report for consideration of the appropriate committee of Supreme Court on administrative side... The information to be supplied by Registrar General to Secretary General of Supreme Court may be placed before us in a sealed envelope and the same will be sent in 8 weeks," the order stated..Advocate Jesal Wahi appeared for the appellant..[Read Live Coverage]