JUDGMENT :

ARUN MONGA, J.

1. Lackadaisical manner and, the nonchalant telling tale of the conduct, or rather the misconduct, of prosecution in the criminal cases before Courts in State of Punjab, thereby inordinately delaying the trials on one hand, while the under-trials, on the other hand, continue to languish in jail for long periods, is borne out from the orders dated 20.02.2023 read with 14.03.2023, passed earlier by a coordinate Bench of this Court, then seized of the matter. Being apposite, same are reproduced herein-below:

Order dated 20.02.2023

“The present petition has been filed under Section 439 Cr.P.C. for the grant of regular bail in FIR No. 56 dated 07.09.2018 registered under Section 22 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 at Police Station City-I Sangrur, District Sangrur.

One of the grounds raised on behalf of the petitioner to seek bail is the delay in the petitioner's trial.

Perusal of the interim orders passed by the trial court reveals that till date, even after the petitioner has suffered incarceration for 03 years, 05 months and 10 days,