Unusual order: Trial judge refuses to decide case saying Supreme Court-set timeline has expired

In an unusual development, a trial judge from West Bengal has refused to decide a case, saying the timeline set by the Supreme Court has expired.

Terming it as “uncommon”, the top court has directed the district judge of South 24 Parganas to call for an explanation of the judge concerned and report back to it within a month.

“He (the judge in question) has to state as to why and under what circumstances, he has reported that he has ceased to have jurisdiction over the matter and would not proceed any further thereof,” a bench led by Justice Pankaj Mithal said in its September 26 order.

This top court had on January 18, 2024, disposed of the criminal appeal with one of the directions that the Judicial Magistrate, 4th Court at Alipore, South 24 Parganas may dispose of the case within six weeks.

However, the trial judge chose to refrain from exercising the jurisdiction just because the timeline prescribed by the Supreme Court for it to dispose of the matter could not be followed by him.

“It appears that the learned judge was not able to dispose of the aforesaid case within the period prescribed by this court and as such, has passed an order dated 19.03.2024 that since he is unable to dispose of the matter within the stipulated time frame, he has ceased to have jurisdiction over the matter,” the top court noted.

“We are pained to note the manner in which the order has been passed by the learned Judge. If for any reason, the judge was not able to dispose of the matter within the prescribed time period fixed by this court, the appropriate remedy available to him was to ask for extension of time but he cannot say that he has lost jurisdiction over the matter as the time allowed has lapsed,” said the bench – which also included Justice Punjab Varale.