Committal proceedings should end in time, says HC, decries '18 case delay

THE Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court recently directed the Registrar General of the high court to issue a circular to all judicial magistrates instructing them to responsibly handle petitions filed by accused persons seeking exemption from appearance during committal proceedings.

- @ Madurai

The circular should also remind magistrates that they ought to conclude the proceedings within the mandatory period of 90 days (or 180 days in exceptional cases). The bench issued this direction after learning that a magistrate court in Dindigul had not committed a case, in which an eyewitness of a 2016 murder case was killed, for nearly six years.