Overview

• The Supreme Court disapproved a March 19, 2024 order in which the Judicial Magistrate, 4th Court at Alipore, claimed he had ceased to have jurisdiction after a disposal timeline lapsed.
• A January 18, 2024 direction had required disposal of AC-2053/2017 (Shiv Kumar Shaw & Anr. v. Rekha Shaw) within six weeks, which the trial court did not meet.
• The apex court clarified that the proper remedy for a missed timeline is to seek an extension, not to decline to exercise jurisdiction.
• The District Judge of South 24 Parganas was told to obtain the magistrate’s explanation and report back within a month, and the registry was asked to send the order to relevant authorities.
• Petitioners’ counsel Rahul Kaushik sought two weeks to file a response, and media reports differed on which bench issued the order, naming different pairs of justices.