Jasmine Rani v. The State Rep. by

ORDER This criminal original petition has been filed by the petitioner/accused No.2 seeking expeditious disposal of C.C.No.2518 of 2017 pending on the file of the learned Metropolitan Magistrate, Additional Court for exclusive trial of CCB cases, Egmore, arising out of the FIR in Crime No.137 of 2013 registered Page2 of 4 for the offences under Section 420 r/w. 34 of IPC on the file of the respondent, within a stipulated time.

¶2When the matter was taken up for hearing, the learned Government Advocate (Criminal Side) appearing for the respondent police submitted that totally, there are twenty five (25) witnesses in this case and eleven (11) witnesses have already been examined.

¶3Heard learned counsel on either side and perused the materials available on record.

¶4It is pertinent to state that a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court, in the case of High Court Bar Association, Allahabad vs. State of Uttar Pradesh reported in (2024) 6 SCC 267, has held that the constitutional courts, in the ordinary course, should refrain from fixing a time-bound schedule for the disposal of cases pending before any other court. The relevant portion of the said decision for the sake of ready reference is reproduced below: "47.3. Constitutional courts, in the ordinary course, should refrain from fixing a time-bound schedule for the disposal of cases pending before any other courts. Constitutional courts may issue directions for the time-bound disposal of cases only in exceptional circumstances. The issue of prioritising the disposal of cases should be best left to the decision of the courts concerned where the cases are pending." (emphasis supplied by this Court). Page3 of 4

¶5It has also been held in the aforesaid extracted portion that in exceptional circumstances, constitutional courts may issue directions for time bound disposal of cases.

¶6Considering the facts and circumstances of this case and also considering that the case which arises out of the FIR registered in the year 2013, is of the year 2017 and the same has been pending for the past eight years, which, in the opinion of this Court is an exceptional circumstance, this Court directs the learned Metropolitan Magistrate, Additional Court for exclusive trial of CCB cases, Egmore, to dispose of the case in C.C.No.2518 of 2017, as expeditiously as possible, preferably within a period of four months from the date of receipt of a copy of this order.

¶7With the above direction, this criminal original petition stands disposed of. 26-02-2026 Index: Yes/No Speaking/Non-speaking order SRM Page4 of 4

A.D.JAGADISH CHANDIRA, J. SRM To

¶1The Metropolitan Magistrate, Additional Court for exclusive trial of CCB cases, Egmore, Chennai.

¶2The Inspector of Police, VIII Team, Central Crime Branch, Egmore, Chennai.

¶3The Public Prosecutor, High Court of Madras. 26-02-2026

Page1 of 4 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS DATED: 26-02-2026 CORAM THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE A.D.JAGADISH CHANDIRA Jasmine Rani ..Petitioner Vs The State rep. by The Inspector of Police, VIII Team, Central Crime Branch, Egmore, Chennai. (Crime No.137 of 2013) ..Respondent Criminal Original Petition is filed under Section 528 of BNSS, 2023, seeking a direction to dispose of the C.C.No.2518 of 2017 on the file of the Metropolitan Magistrate, Additional Court for exclusive trial of CCB cases, Egmore, by expediting the trial proceedings in a time bound manner. For Petitioner : Mr.K.M.Subramanian For Respondent : Mr.S.Santhosh Government Advocate (Criminal Side)