SC Asks CBI to Fix Responsibility for 314-day Delay in Filing Appeal

The Supreme Court on Monday has asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to hold an inquiry and fix responsibility for the delay of 314 days in filing an appeal   In the present case, an SLP was filed by CBI against a Delhi High Court judgment wherein the conviction recorded by the Trial Court was reversed. 

 Not satisfied with the explanation, the Bench comprising of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Hemant Gupta observed, “We are dealing with a premier investigating agency, the CBI! Learned ASG submits that dismissal on limitation amounts to letting a person convicted by the trial Court albeit reversed by the High Court getting away scot-free. If that be the position, first it is the CBI which has to show some seriousness in the matter of fixing responsibility on the persons responsible for the inordinate delay of 314 days in filing the SLP”.

 The case is posted after two months by the Court. By that time, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is directed to hold an enquiry and fix this delay.  

 Hence, the Special Leave Petition (SLP) has been dismissed with a remark by the court which said, “The approach of the Union of India in the manner in which it has filed the present special leave petition exasperates us”.