The Court cannot mandate specific time limits for case disposition in the absence of exceptional circumstances, as established by Supreme Court precedent.

ORDER

This Criminal Original Petition has been filed by the petitioner to direct the Sessions Judge, Mahalir Neethimandram, Salem to expedite trial in S.C.No.227 of 2023 on the file of the Sessions Judge, Mahalir Neethimandram, Salem, within the stipulated time.

2. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned Government Advocate (Crl. Side) appearing for the respondent police and also perused the materials available on record.

3. It would be appropriate to note that since thousands of cases are pending in the Courts and the litigants are awaiting in a long queue, the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Sangram Sadashiv Suryavanshi Vs. The State of Maharashtra in Criminal Appeal No.4758 of 2024 dated 25.11.2024 has observed that the High Courts are fixing a time-bound schedule for conclusion of the trials in a routine manner despite the decisions of the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court in the case of High Court Bar Association, Allahabad vs. State of Uttar Pradesh reported in (2024) 6 SCC

267, which reads as under:

"47.3. 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."

5. In view of the above decisions of the Hon'ble Supreme Court, this Court is not inclined to give any specific direction to the trial Court fixing time limit to dispose of the case.

6. However, depending upon the pendency, the trial Court is directed to dispose of the case in S.C.No.227 of 2023 at the earliest.

7. With the above observations and directions, this Criminal Original Petition is disposed of.