The Supreme Court has expressed serious concern over the huge backlog of criminal appeals pending in High Courts across India. As of March 22, 2025, more than 7.24 lakh appeals—both against convictions and acquittals—remain unresolved.
“As of 22nd March, 2025, the total pendency of criminal appeals is 7,24,192…Therefore, there is a huge problem faced by all the High Courts,” the bench observed.
A bench of Justice Abhay S. Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan passed this order in a suo motu case related to bail for convicts whose appeals are pending for long periods. The Court endorsed key suggestions to address this serious issue, including the digitisation of trial court records, appointment of Registrars for case management, and use of AI tools like SUVAS for document translation.
The Court emphasised that High Courts should automatically request trial court records in digital form once a criminal appeal notice is issued. This would reduce delays caused by manual transmission of documents.
“It will be ideal if all the HCs amend the procedural rules… so that hearing is not delayed,” the Court recommended.
The data presented before the Court showed that the Allahabad High Court had the highest number of pending appeals (2.77 lakh), followed by Madhya Pradesh (1.15 lakh), Punjab and Haryana (79,326), Rajasthan (56,455), and Bombay (28,257). Even smaller states like Chhattisgarh had over 18,000 pending cases.
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To speed up disposal, the Supreme Court supported video conferencing of appeals between benches with lower pendency and the principal seat. It also backed roster rationalisation, ensuring criminal appeals are assigned to dedicated benches for faster hearing.
The Model Action Plan for Reduction of Arrears, prepared by the Supreme Court's Committee on Case Flow Management, was also endorsed. This plan, approved by the Chief Justice of India, has been sent to all High Courts.
“We are conscious of the fact that the High Courts are Constitutional Courts… We are leaving it to the High Courts… so that the High Courts follow best practices adopted by other High Courts,” the Court said.
The Court also recommended a one-time physical verification of all pending cases in trial and High Courts to correct data errors and ensure accurate tracking on judicial websites and the National Judicial Data Grid.
Another major recommendation was the creation of the Registrar (Court and Case Management) post. This official will ensure case files are prepared in time and all procedural requirements are followed before final hearings.
“We recommend… especially the suggestion to create the post of Registrar (Court and Case Management),” the Court stated.
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Highlighting the rights of undertrial prisoners, the Court reminded High Courts to liberally suspend sentences in fixed-term cases unless there are serious exceptions, citing previous rulings like Bhagwan Rama Shinde Gosai v. State of Gujarat (1999) and NCB v. Lakhwinder Singh (2025).
The Court also stressed the need to prioritise appeals of prisoners in jail, while also balancing appeals involving serious offences or aged appellants who are on bail.
Though the idea of appointing ad hoc judges was suggested by the amici curiae, the Court said it is already under consideration by the Chief Justice of India and the government.
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Finally, the Court urged High Courts to frame and submit their individual action plans within four months, noting that such plans can be shared among all High Courts to promote best practices and reduce delays.
“The endeavour… is to ensure that dependency of criminal appeals is reduced to the minimum,” the Court concluded.
Case no. – SMW(Crl) No. 4/2021
Case Title – In Re Policy Strategy For Grant Of Bail
