Allahabad High Court
BHUPENDRA YADAVversusSTATE OF U.P. AND 3 OTHERS
- Decided
- Bench
- AJAY KUMAR II
Holding
The High Court held that, absent an exceptional circumstance, it could not impose a time‑bound schedule for the disposal of the pending complaint.
Summary
The applicant Bhupendra Yadav filed an application under Section 529 of the BNSS seeking a High Court direction for the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Court No. 19, Deoria, to expedite the pending complaint case No. 4632 of 2025. The applicant argued that the case, filed in 2025, remained undecided and requested a time‑bound schedule for its disposal. The State opposed the direction only if the lower court was already overloaded. The Court referred to Supreme Court precedents (Shaikh Uzma Feroz Hussain v. State of Maharashtra and High Court Bar Association, Allahabad v. State of U.P.) which hold that time‑bound orders are permissible only in extraordinary circumstances. Finding no such exceptional circumstance, the Court declined to impose a schedule, but directed the applicant to move an appropriate application before the trial court within two weeks, and the trial court to decide it within six weeks, also ordering the trial court to record the applicant’s statements under Section 223. The application was disposed of finally.
Issues considered
- Whether the High Court can issue a time‑bound direction for the disposal of a pending criminal complaint under Section 529 of the BNSS.
- Whether the facts of the present case constitute an ‘exceptional circumstance’ justifying such a direction.
- Whether the trial court should be directed to record the applicant’s statement under Section 223 of the BNSS.
Legislation cited
- BNSS — s. 223, 316, 318, 351(2), 352, 529
Subjects
- time‑bound disposal
- exceptional circumstance
- Section 529
- expeditious trial
- recording statements
- Section 223
- High Court direction
- criminal procedure
Judgment
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD
APPLICATION U/S 529 BNSS No. - 3941 of 2026
Bhupendra Yadav
.....Applicant(s)
Versus
State Of U.P. And 3 Others
.....Opposite
Party(s)
Counsel for Applicant(s) : Ajay Bahadur Yadav, Sanjeev Yadav
Counsel for Opposite Party(s) : G.A.
Court No. - 78
HON'BLE DR. AJAY KUMAR-II, J.
1. Heard learned counsel for the applicant, learned A.G.A. for State and
perused material on record.
2. The present application has been filed by the applicant with prayer to
direct Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Court No. 19, Deoria to
decide/expedite the Complaint Case No. 4632 of 2025 (Bhupendra Yadav
Vs. Shashikant Mishra and others), under Sections 316, 318, 352, 351(2)
BNSS, Police Station Salempur, District Deoria.
3. Learned counsel for the applicant submits that the proceedings before
the court concerned be directed to be concluded in a time bound manner.
It is submitted by learned counsel for the applicant that matter belongs to
the year 2025, which is still pending and has not been decided till now.
Therefore, he requested that a direction to learned trial court be issued to
decide the aforesaid case within a stipulated period of time.
4. Learned A.G.A. has no objection in this regard if the Court below is
not already overloaded with huge pendency of such cases.
5. Hon’ble Apex Court in Shaikh Uzma Feroz Hussain vs. State of
Maharashtra in Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 587 of 2023 has observed
that every High Court and every Court in the country has a huge
pendency, the constitutional Court should avoid temptation of fixing a
time bound schedule for disposal of any case before any Court unless the
situation is extra ordinary. Hon’ble Apex Court in High Court Bar
Association, Allahabad vs. State of U.P. and others, (2024) 6 SCC 267
has observed in paragraph 42, which is reproduced as under:-
“Constitutional Courts should not normally fix a time-bound schedule for disposal of
NA529 No. 3941 of 2026
2
cases pending in any Court. The pattern of pendency of various categories of cases
pending in every Court, including High Courts, is different. The situation at the
grassroots level is better known to the judges of the concerned Courts. Therefore, the
issue of giving out-of- turn priority to certain cases should be best left to the
concerned Courts. The orders fixing the outer limit for the disposal of cases should be
passed only in exceptional circumstances to meet extraordinary situations.”
6. Thus, law on issue of time bound and / or expeditious disposal has
already been well settled that only when an exceptional circumstance is
made out, a direction for time bound/ expeditious disposal of such a case
can be issued not otherwise.
7. Learned counsel for applicant has failed to make out any exceptional
circumstance for issuance of direction for time bound disposal of
complaint case pending before Court below. However, applicant is given
liberty to move an appropriate application before Court concerned for
bringing out such fact for expeditious disposal of his complaint case
pending before it within two weeks from today and in case such an
application is moved, the Court concerned shall decide the same within 6
weeks from the date of filing of such application. If Court concerned
comes to conclusion that the case for expeditious disposal is made out
then in that eventuality it shall decide the same as expeditious as possible
within a reasonable period.
8. A perusal of certified copy of order-sheet reveals that the applicant was
consistently present before the Court below on the dates fixed before it,
for recording evidence under Section 223 BNSS, however no reason is
mentioned in any of the order that why statement of
applicant/complainant was not recorded, inspite of his presence before the
Court below. Such casual approach cannot be appropriate. Therefore, the
learned trial Court shall make all endevour for recording statements of the
applicant/ complainant and his witnesses under Section 223 of BNSS.
9. Accordingly, the present application is disposed of finally.
(Dr. Ajay Kumar-II,J.)
September 8, 2026
Dhirendra/
Digitally signed by :-
DHIRENDRA KUMAR
High Court of Judicature at Allahabad
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