Justice Chakravarthy termed it a “paradigm shift” in delivery of justice as a process of conducting hybrid sitting with the magistrate has been put in place.
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14,000 cases that warrant less than three-year jail disposed of in 42 days by Madras HC bench
The cases are related to accidents, theft, hurt, protests, mother cases ended in acquittal, long pending warrants/summon
CHENNAI: Thanks to the innovative idea of the Supreme Court aimed at effectively reducing the pendency of cases piling up in the district judiciary, a dedicated bench of the Madras High Court has disposed of about 13,625 cases, which warrant punishment under 3 years imprisonment, within a short span of 42 working days.
Disposal of such a whopping number of cases was achieved through a pilot project carried out in the Madras HC as per the directions of the SC and the guidance of the special committee comprising justices of the SC and HC. Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy headed the dedicated bench.
The cases are related to accidents, theft, hurt, protests, mother cases ended in acquittal, long pending warrants/summons, Prohibition Act cases, illegal lottery, mines and minerals, gaming, immoral trafficking, copyright, essential commodities, matrimonial and other miscellaneous cases. The hearing of the dedicated bench commenced on August 19 and ended on October 29, 2025.
Even cases as old as 30 years, involving serious offences, were also disposed of providing great relief to the trial courts.Twelve cases were registered between 1980 and 1990, 120 between 1991 and 2000, 817 between 2000 and 2010, 8,319 between 2010-2020 and 3,567 after 2020. As many as 20,985 cases were transmitted to the HC, of which 13,625 were disposed of during the sitting of the special bench and 7,357 cases were re-transmitted.
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Summons were issued to the accused persons and the complainants within the country and abroad under the relevant provisions of CrPC and BNSS through physical and electronic modes.
The police officers concerned, presiding officers of the lower courts were connected with the dedicated bench through video conferencing and other modes of communication. The parties to the cases were heard and the pending cases were disposed of resulting in relief to both the complainants and the accused.
Justice Chakravarthy termed it a “paradigm shift” in delivery of justice as a process of conducting hybrid sitting with the magistrate has been put in place.
“Throughout our judicial history, HCs have corrected the orders of the district judiciary. However, this is the first time we have collaborated in this manner which introduces new thinking and paves the way for adoption of this system in many contexts,” he said.
Explaining the advantages of the pilot project, he stated that the most satisfying outcome is that justice was delivered to the poor people and first offenders by recording thousands of genuine compromises that promote peace and harmony. The offenders, who indulged in petty crimes and were in the wrong side of the law, were prevented from being ‘permanently branded as criminal’ and showering pardon and taking a lenient view of scores of first-time offenders, he added.
The judge appreciated the cooperation rendered by the stakeholders in the pilot project, including the Registry of the HC, district judiciary, presiding and law officers.
Justice Chakravarthy said, “The entire exercise also saw a paradigm shift in the HC and trial courts conducting collaborative-hybrid hearings which emerged as a new alternative method to resolve criminal cases.”
