S.S.SANDHAWALIA, J.

1. Is the constitutional right of the accused to a speedy and public trial in all criminal prosecutions now flowing from Art. 21 of our Constitution, by virtue of precedential mandate, identical in content with the express constitutional guarantee inserted by the Sixth Amendment in the American Constitution? What is the inevitable legal consequence if the accused person is denied this constitutional right? Would American precedents on the Sixth Amendment be attracted and applicable in this context in India as well? Would inordinately long and callous delays in concluding a criminal trial on a capital charge by the prosecution be per se prejudicial to the accused? These are the significant questions which have come to the fore in this reference to the Full Bench. Primarily in issue is a frontal challenge to the reasoning and ratio of the Division Bench judgment in State of Bihar V/s. Ramdaras Ahir, 1984 BBCJ 749: (1985 Cri LJ 584).

2. For the determination of the pristinely legal issues aforesaid, it is unnecessary to delve deeply into the facts at this stage. Suffice it to mention that the State of Bihar has brought the Government Appeal against twenty r