In Brief

This suo moto writ petition addressed widespread inadequacies in criminal trial procedures across Indian courts. The Supreme Court noted that while some High Courts' rules require judgments to include lists of witnesses and exhibits, others do not, creating inconsistency. The Court issued notices to all High Court Registrars General and State/Union Territory authorities to develop uniform best practices, including: recording witness depositions in typed format with paragraph numbers; assigning systematic numbers to witnesses, exhibits and material objects; including mandatory appendices in judgments; avoiding repetitive narration in appellate judgments; and specifying set-off periods in sentences. The Court considered issuing binding directions under Article 142 of the Constitution to standardize criminal court procedures nationwide.

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