SC Hits Out at Allahabad HC Over 'Collapse' of Filing, Listing Systems

The Supreme Court on Thursday expressed concern over the "collapsed" system of filing and listing cases at the Allahabad high court while hearing a plea by Uttar Pradesh legislator Abbas Ansari regarding disputed land in Lucknow.

- Abraham Thomas

The court, which described work at the HC as "worrisome," made the observations after learning that Ansari's petition seeking a stay on construction on his plot, which the state claims is "evacuee" land, had not been heard even once despite the top court's October 2024 directive for an "out of turn" hearing.

"This is one of the high courts that we are worrisome about," said a bench headed by Justice Surya Kant, ordering status quo on the disputed land until the high court takes up the matter.

The court was informed that since its October 21 order requesting the Allahabad HC to hear the matter expeditiously by November 4, the case was listed eight times without any hearing.

"We don't want to comment anything but filing has collapsed, listing has collapsed. Nobody knows when a matter will come up for hearing," the bench, also comprising Justice N Kotiswar Singh, said. Justice Kant mentioned he had recently met with judges and registrars of the high court to discuss these issues.