Stay order

shyam lal (Querist) 08 January 2022 This query is : Resolved
During crimnal proceedings in the trial court. the opposite party appealed in the High court and got a stay ..today over one year has passed because of Covid & now Omicron the dates have been postponed still further.Query. Can a application be made to the high court to vacate the Stay?

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Dr J C Vashista (Expert) 09 January 2022
Stay order shall be automatically vacated if not renewed as held by Apex Court

Cases in India can take years to be disposed of. Stay of proceedings on account of interim orders has been greatly responsible for causing inordinate delay in disposal of cases. These orders typically stay effective unless expressly vacated, or until a final order is passed, which then subsumes the interim order. Interim orders that stay proceedings before a subordinate court are often misused by litigants as a dilatory tactic to maintain status quo in their favor. The subordinate courts account for 87% of India’s pending cases. A greater challenge faced by the judiciary and litigants alike is the delay in determination of cases at the appellate level, which in turn leads to endless wait for determination of matters even at the trial stage. The Law Ministry estimates that on an average, a trial is delayed by about 6.5 years due to stay of proceedings by higher courts.

The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India dealt with the issue of undue delay in trials caused by stays in Asian Resurfacing Road Agency v. Central Bureau of Investigation (“Asian Resurfacing”), and noted that once a stay is granted, disposal of petition before the High Court takes a long time. The Hon’ble Supreme Court also emphasised on the accountability of the courts while granting stay of proceedings and held that such matters should be disposed of in two-three months without allowing any adjournments. To ensure a speedy disposal of such cases, the Supreme Court directed that a stay of trial proceedings before civil and criminal appellate/revisional courts ordered by a High Court or a court below High Court shall automatically expire in six months, unless extended by a speaking order. This direction has been reiterated by the Hon’ble Supreme Court on October 15, 2020 in MA No. 1577 of 2020 in Criminal Appeal Nos. 1375-1376 of 2013.

This essentially means that once the six-month period is over, the trial courts may resume the proceedings without waiting for any other intimation, unless an express order extending the stay is passed. No contempt proceedings would lie against the presiding officers of trial courts on having proceeded in terms of Asian Resurfacing after a lapse of six months.

Stay automatically vacated only at trial stage of litigation