The SC in Pila Pahan v. State of Jharkhand ^[1], inter alia, held that the judgments reserved before a High Court (‘HC’) must ordinarily be pronounced within three months from the date of the reserving such judgment. A reasoned judgment pronounced by HC in open court should be uploaded on the HC website within 24 hours. The SC further emphasised that matters concerning personal liberty, including regular bail, anticipatory bail, criminal appeals involving convicts in custody, and death references, require special promptitude. In particular, bail applications should preferably be pronounced and uploaded on the same day. If the Order is reserved, the SC directed that the Order is expected to be pronounced and uploaded on the next day.

The SC further held that in case the judgments are not pronounced by the HC within three months, any party to the lis can file an application before the HC for early judgment.

[1] Pila Pahan v. State of Jharkhand, 2026 SCC OnLine SC 1012.