CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court is apparently facing a catch-22 situation over long pending criminal appeals. The state of affairs was evident from at least two release-on-bail orders the Court has issued recently.
In both the cases, the Court granted bail after expressing inability to take up for final hearing of their criminal appeals in the near future.
The orders were issued on criminal appeals of two convicts, Dolachand Pradhan and Padmanava Mahanta, who had already undergone more than seven years imprisonment.
A Special POCSO Court in Sundargarh had convicted Dolachand on charges of rape and sentenced him to 10 years RI in 2013. He had filed his criminal appeal in 2020 and sought bail taking the plea that he had already undergone seven years and four months of the 10-year sentence.
Taking note of it, Justice SK Sahoo said he was inclined to release Dolachand on bail as there is no chance of early hearing of his appeal in the near future and the balance of convenience is in his favour.
In the case of Padmanava, the Court of District and Sessions Judge, Keonjhar had convicted him on charges of murder on April 7, 2012. He had filed the appeal on April 24, 2012. On his appeal, the bench of Chief Justice S Muralidhar and Justice Biswajit Mohanty said, “The fact of the matter is that during all these years, it has not been possible to take up the appeal for final hearing. In view of the present position of pendency of the criminal appeal, it is unlikely that the appeal can be taken up for final hearing in immediate future”.
Sources said of the over 1.71 lakh cases pending in the HC, more than 11,000 are criminal appeals and over 30 per cent are more than 10 years old.