Indu Bhusan Jana vs The Union Of India & Others on 19 September, 2008
In at least two reported decisions, in (1988) Supp. SCC 713 (Union of India
v. Bhavnagar Salt and Industrial Works) and (1985) 4 SCC 689 (Lakshmi Charan
Sen v. A.K.M. Hassan Uzzaman), the highest judicial authority of the land, no
less, has expressed regret in the judgments for the delay in pronouncing
judgment: in the first case for the records having been misplaced and in the other
for a large number of factors that the Supreme Court considered unnecessary to
dwell on. A judicial order pronounced several weeks or a few months after
hearing is concluded needs to record the reason for the delay unless the
discussion in the judgment implicitly explains the same.