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Allahabad High Court

NANDLALversusSITARAM AND 10 OTHERS

Decided

Holding

The High Court held that it cannot issue a direction to the subordinate court for expeditious disposal of the suit and dismissed the writ petition.

Summary

The petitioner filed a writ petition under Article 227 seeking a direction to the Civil Judge (Junior Division) of Naugarh to decide an original suit (No. 117 of 2016) expeditiously. The High Court referred to the Supreme Court’s decision in High Court Bar Association v. State of Uttar Pradesh (2024) which held that constitutional courts should not fix time‑bound schedules for cases pending in lower courts except in exceptional circumstances. It also relied on the Division Bench judgment in Ali Shad Usmani v. Ali Isteba (2015) which declined to order expedited hearing of a civil suit, emphasizing that such matters should be left to the discretion of the trial court. Accordingly, the Court declined to direct the subordinate court to expedite the suit and dismissed the petition. The Court advised the petitioner to move an application for expeditious disposal directly before the trial court, which will consider urgency and case load.

Issues considered

  • Whether a High Court can, under Article 227, direct a subordinate civil court to decide a suit within a stipulated period.
  • Whether such direction is permissible in the absence of exceptional circumstances.

Subjects

  • Article 227
  • Writ petition
  • Expeditious disposal
  • High Court direction
  • Subordinate court jurisdiction
  • Case management
  • Urgency

Judgment

          HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD
             MATTERS UNDER ARTICLE 227 No. - 11882 of 2026

Nandlal
                                                                     .....Petitioner(s)
                                       Versus

Sitaram And 10 Others
                                                                  .....Respondent(s)

Counsel for Petitioner(s)                        :   Alauddin, Fakhruddin
Counsel for Respondent(s)                        :


Court No. - 9
                HON'BLE ROHIT RANJAN AGARWAL, J.

1. This writ petition has been filed with the following prayer:-

     "a. An order or direction and directing the learned Civil Judge (J.D.),
     Naugarh, Siddharth Nagar to decide the Original Suit No.117 of 2016
     (Sitaram Versus Nandlal and others), pending in the court of the learned
     Civil Judge (J.D.), Naugarh, Siddharth Nagar expeditiously within the
     stipulated period by this Hon'ble Court."

2. Recently, the Constitution Bench of Hon'ble Supreme Court in High
Court Bar Association, Allahabad vs. State of Uttar Pradesh and
others (2024) 6 SCC 267 has held that Constitution Courts should refrain
from fixing a time-bound schedule for the disposal of cases pending
before any other courts. The Court further held that issue of prioritising
the disposal of cases should be best left to the decision of the courts
concerned where the cases are pending. Relevant para 47.3 of the said
judgment is extracted hereasunder :-

     "Constitutional courts, in the ordinary course, should refrain from fixing a
     time-bound schedule for the disposal of cases pending before any other
     courts. Constitutional courts may issue directions for the time-bound
     disposal of cases only in exceptional circumstances. The issue of
     prioritising the disposal of cases should be best left to the decision of the
     courts concerned where the cases are pending;"

3. The Division Bench of this Court in Ali Shad Usmani vs. Ali Isteba,
                                                                A227 No. 11882 of 2026
                                    2


2015 (2) ADJ 250 (DB) has held that no direction can be issued to the
sub-ordinate courts for deciding the suit within stipulated period. Relevant
portion of the judgment is extracted hereasunder:-

     "We are not inclined to issue a direction for the expeditious hearing of a
     Civil Suit which is pending before the Civil Judge (Junior Division),
     District-Azamgarh. It would be most inappropriate to Court to entertain a
     writ petition under Article 226 and/or under Article 227 of the
     Constitution simply for the purpose of expediting the hearing of a suit.
     Such orders, if granted, place a class of litigants, who move the court in a
     separate and preferential category whereas other cases which may be of
     similar or greater antiquity and urgency are left to be decided in the
     normal channel. Hence, any such direction may be issued with the greatest
     care and circumspection by the High Court otherwise the Civil Courts will
     be overburdened only with requests for expeditious disposal of suits,
     which have been expedited by the High Court. Most of the litigants cannot
     afford the expense of moving the High court and would not, therefore, be
     in a position to have the benefit of such an order.

     Ultimately, it must be left to the judicious exercise of discretion of the
     concerned Court to determine whether a ground for urgency has been
     made out. We emphasize that there may be other cases such as involving
     senior citizens, those who are differently abled or people suffering from a
     particular disablilty socio-economic or otherwise which may prime cause
     of urgent disposal. It is for the learned Trial Judge in each case to apply
     his or her mind and decide whether the hearing of the suit to be expedited.

     For these reasons, we are not inclined to entertain the petition. The
     petition is, accordingly, dismissed. There shall be no order as to cost."

4. In view of above, this Court declines to direct the court below to
expedite the proceedings pending before it.

5. The petitioner may, however, move an application for expeditious
disposal of Suit No. 117 of 2016 (Sitaram vs. Nandlal and others) before
the court concerned who will decide the same on the basis of pendency of
cases before it and also keeping in mind the dictum of Hon’ble Apex
Court.
                                                                                            A227 No. 11882 of 2026
                                                                    3


                                    6. With the aforesaid direction, the writ petition stands disposed of.

                                    7. Registrar (Compliance) to communicate this order to court concerned,
                                    within 48 hours.


                                                                                    (Rohit Ranjan Agarwal,J.)
                                    September 9, 2026
                                    (V. S. SINGH)




Digitally signed by :-
VIDYA SAGAR SINGH
High Court of Judicature at Allahabad


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