A constitutional bench of the Indian Supreme Court overturned Thursday its previous judgement requiring an extension of stay orders for civil or criminal proceedings every six months. A bench with a minimum of five judges is considered a constitutional bench of the Supreme Court, primarily for matters requiring interpreting the Indian Constitution.

A five-judge bench of the Supreme Court delivered the judgment, overturning its three-judge bench decision in the Asian Resurfacing case from 2018. The 2018 case held that all existing stays on civil or criminal trial proceedings to end in six months unless extended by a specific order explaining exceptional circumstances. It also extended the requirement of an extension to any future stay on proceedings.

The Thursday judgment from the Supreme Court concludes:

Hence, with greatest respect to the Bench which decided the case, we are unable to concur with the directions [of the requirement of an extension] issued in paragraphs 36 and 37 of the decision in the case of Asian Resurfacing1. We hold that there cannot be automatic vacation of stay granted by the High Court. We do not approve the direction issued to decide all the cases in which an interim stay has been granted on a day-to-day basis within a time frame. We hold that such blanket directions cannot be issued in the exercise of the jurisdiction under Article 142 of the Constitution of India.

The Supreme Court also added:

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 concerned Courts where the cases are pending.

However, the court clarified that the orders for automatic vacation of stays in cases concluded due to the Asian Resurfacing case decision remain valid.