JUDGMENT

Madan B. Lokur, J.

1. Apart from the questions of law, this appeal raises a serious issue of process re-engineering and case management, a concern that we need to address.

2. A criminal complaint was filed against the Appellant G.N. Verma on 30th August 2000. He sought quashing of the complaint which the High Court declined on 19th September 2002. Special leave to appeal against the said order was granted by this Court on 27th January 2004.

3. Despite the fact that this Court did not pass any interim order staying the proceedings before the Trial Judge, we were informed that the criminal complaint has made absolutely no progress over the last more than thirteen years. We were understandably disturbed with this state of affairs. However, we were later informed that the trial could not progress since the original records of the case had been transmitted to this Court. In the absence of the original records, the Chief Judicial Magistrate obviously could not proceed with the trial.

4. It is time to look into and revisit the rules, practices and procedures being followed not only by this Court but also by other superior courts requiring the routine summoning of the original records