Allahabad High Court
THAKURI DEVI AND ANOTHERversusSHRIRAM AND 5 OTHERS
- Decided
- Bench
- ROHIT RANJAN AGARWAL
Holding
The High Court held that it cannot issue a direction for the expeditious disposal of the suit, and therefore dismissed the writ petition.
Summary
The petitioners filed a writ under Article 227 seeking a direction to the Civil Judge (Junior Division) in Azamgarh to dispose of suit No. 733/2021 within a stipulated period. 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 its own Division Bench precedent in Ali Shad Usmani v. Ali Isteba (2015) which declined to issue expeditious‑disposal directions to subordinate courts. Applying these precedents, the Court concluded that it could not direct the trial court to expedite the suit. Consequently, the petition was dismissed, with a suggestion that the petitioners may approach the trial court directly for any expeditious‑disposal application. The order was communicated to the concerned court within 48 hours.
Issues considered
- Whether a High Court can, under Article 227 (or Article 226), direct a subordinate civil court to dispose of a suit within a stipulated time‑frame.
- Whether the circumstances of the present case constitute an ‘exceptional’ situation justifying such a direction.
Legislation cited
- Constitution of India — s. Article 226, Article 227
Subjects
- Article 227
- Article 226
- writ petition
- expedited disposal
- civil suit
- high court jurisdiction
- subordinate court
- urgency
- constitutional law
Judgment
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD
MATTERS UNDER ARTICLE 227 No. - 13786 of 2026
Thakuri Devi And Another
.....Petitioner(s)
Versus
Shriram And 5 Others
.....Respondent(s)
Counsel for Petitioner(s) : Manik Chandra Yadav
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) Issue an order or direction directing learned trial court (learned
Civil Judge, (Junior Division), City, Azamgarh), to make disposal of Suit
No. 733/2021, Thakuri Devi and another versus Shriram and others,
expeditiously within a stipulated period."
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,
2015 (2) ADJ 250 (DB) has held that no direction can be issued to the
A227 No. 13786 of 2026
2
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. 733 of 2021 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.
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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.)
October 1, 2026
A. V. Singh
Digitally signed by :-
AJAY VIKRAM SINGH
High Court of Judicature at Allahabad
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