Contempt for delay
The Supreme Court’s six-month timeline gets teeth with the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s ruling that execution proceedings pending beyond six months would now amount to contempt of the SC judgment. At stake is not just the enforcement of decrees but the very credibility of the judicial system. Justice delayed, after all, is justice denied. The ruling draws strength from the Supreme Court’s 2021 precedent in Rahul S Shah vs Jinendra Kumar Gandhi and its March 2025 directive mandating the high courts to ensure timely disposal of execution petitions. Yet, even with such clarity, compliance has been patchy. Courts often pass judgments, but their enforcement languishes for years, leaving litigants frustrated and eroding public faith in the judiciary. By holding judicial officers and state authorities accountable through contempt proceedings, the high court has signalled that indifference to timelines will no longer be tolerated.
