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Allahabad High Court

SATYAPAL YADAVversusBRAJPAL YADAV AND ANOTHER

Decided

Holding

The High Court held that it cannot direct a subordinate court to expedite a suit absent exceptional circumstances.

Summary

Petitioner Satyapal Yadav filed a writ petition under Article 227 seeking a directive to the Civil Judge (Junior Division) in Chandauli to decide Original Suit No. 628/2019, which has been pending since October 2019. The High Court examined whether it could order a subordinate court to expedite the hearing. It relied on the Supreme Court’s decision in High Court Bar Association v. State of Uttar Pradesh (2024) that constitutional courts should not impose time‑bound schedules on other courts except in exceptional cases, and on the Division Bench judgment in Ali Shad Usmani v. Ali Isteba (2015) which refused to direct a lower court for speedy disposal. Applying these precedents, the Court declined to issue any direction to the trial court. The petitioner was advised to move an application for expeditious disposal before the subordinate court itself. The writ petition was consequently disposed of.

Issues considered

  • Whether a High Court can issue a direction under Article 227 for the expeditious disposal of a suit pending before a subordinate civil court.

Legislation cited

Subjects

  • writ petition
  • Article 227
  • expeditious disposal
  • subordinate court
  • judicial discretion
  • high court direction

Judgment

         HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD
             MATTERS UNDER ARTICLE 227 No. - 12306 of 2026

Satyapal Yadav
                                                                     .....Petitioner(s)
                                         Versus

Brajpal Yadav And Another
                                                                   .....Respondent(s)

Counsel for Petitioner(s)            : Santosh Kumar Dubey, Vinay Bhushan
                                       Upadhyay
Counsel for Respondent(s)            :


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

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

     "I. Issue an order or direction to the court below (Civil Judge (J.D.)
     Chandauli to decide the O.S. No. 628/2019 (Brajpal Yadav & Another Vs.
     Satyapal Yadav), Pending before Civil Judge (J.D.) Chandauli since the
     date of its institution i.e. 19.10.2019."

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 Constitutional 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. 12306 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 Original Suit No. 628 of 2019 before the court concerned who
will decide the same on the basis of pendency of cases before it and also
                                                                                            A227 No. 12306 of 2026
                                                                   3


                                    keeping in mind the dictum of Hon’ble Apex Court.

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

                                    7. The Registrar (Compliance) is directed to communicate this order to
                                    the court concerned within 48 hours.



                                                                                    (Rohit Ranjan Agarwal,J.)
                                    September 9, 2026
                                    A. V. Singh




Digitally signed by :-
AJAY VIKRAM SINGH
High Court of Judicature at Allahabad


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