Bombay High Court

VINOD SUBHASH KOTEversusTHE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

Disposal: DISPOSED OFF
Bench: SANDIPKUMAR C MORE ABASAHEB D SHINDE

Holding

The High Court may order the trial court to dispose of the criminal case expeditiously, preferably within one year.

Summary

The petitioner, original complainant in a criminal case (R.C.C. No.3 of 2018), filed a writ petition seeking an expeditious disposal of the pending trial within one year. The petition highlighted that the case, over five years old, had seen repeated absences of the accused and numerous hearings on a discharge application without any substantive outcome. The Court noted the opportunities already afforded to the accused to argue their discharge application. Considering the delay and the need for timely justice, the Court directed the trial court to dispose of the case as soon as possible, preferably within a year from the order. Consequently, the writ petition was disposed.

Issues considered

Whether a High Court can direct a trial court to dispose of a pending criminal case within a specified time frame

Subjects

criminal procedure
time bound disposal
writ petition
expeditious trial
court direction

Judgment

2026:BHC-AUG:4593-DB
                                              1                        14 WP.doc



                       IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
                                BENCH AT AURANGABAD
                  14 CRIMINAL WRIT PETITION NO. 1525 OF 2025

                              VINOD SUBHASH KOTE
                                     VERSUS
                           THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA
                                          …

                  Advocate for the Petitioner : Mr. Menezes Joslyn A
                    AGP/APP for Respondent/State : Mr. N.B. Patil
                                           …
                                       CORAM      :   SANDIPKUMAR C. MORE AND
                                                      ABASAHEB D. SHINDE, JJ.
                                         DATE     : 02.02.2026

             PER COURT :
             .     Heard learned counsel for the petitioner.

             2.    By way of this petition, the petitioner who is original
             complainant in R.C.C. No.3 of 2018 is seeking expeditious disposal of
             the said suit which is pending on the file of learned J.M.F.C, Soygaon
             District Aurangabad within a period of one year.

             3.    He also placed on record the copies of Roznama. Admittedly, the
             case is more than five years old and on going through the daily status,
             it appears that the accused in the said case were absent on many
             occasions. Moreover, it appears that now the case is fixed for hearing
             on discharge application filed by the accused. So many dates are
             already given for arguing the said application. However, no positive
             results has come out.


             4.    Under such circumstances and considering the opportunities
                                   2                     14 WP.doc



availed by the accused person to argue their application for discharge,
we deem it appropriate to make the present case time-bound by
directing the learned J.M.F.C Soygaon District Aurangabad to
decide/dispose of the aforesaid Regular Criminal Case No. 3 of 2018 as
expeditiously as possible and preferably within a period of one year
from the date of communication of this order.


5.      The Criminal Writ Petition stands disposed of.




( ABASAHEB D. SHINDE, J. )               ( SANDIPKUMAR C. MORE, J. )



vsj..

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