“Will be compelled to pass stringent orders”: Allahabad High Court issues 2-week ultimatum to District Judges

Allahabad High Court has listed the case for further hearing on January 27, 2026. (Image generated using AI)

The Allahabad High Court has expressed strong displeasure over continued delays by district judges in several districts of Uttar Pradesh in responding to directions concerning installation of fire-fighting equipment in court premises.

A bench of Justices Rajan Roy and Abdhesh Kumar Chaudhary, while hearing a public interest litigation, noted that despite repeated communications from the high court and the State Government, several districts failed to submit required proposals or responses.

The court was informed that funds were proposed to be allocated for installing fire-fighting equipment in various districts including Mahoba, Chandauli, Auraiya, Chitrakoot, Banda, Etawah, Maharajganj and Deoria.

However, certain queries raised by the State Government in relation to these districts were sent to the concerned district judges through the registrar general on January 2, 2026, but responses were still awaited.

The bench observed that more than a month had elapsed since its previous order, yet the relevant documents and pleadings had not been placed on record.

“We fail to understand as to why these documents and pleadings corresponding to the same have not been brought on record although more than a month has passed since passing of the last order,” the court said.

It directed the district judges of the eight districts to respond to the queries within two weeks.

The court also took note of lack of response by district judges of seven other districts including Jhansi, Hamirpur, Hapur, Shamli, Firozabad, Kushinagar and Siddharthnagar.

While refraining from passing any harsh orders, the bench cautioned that stringent action would be taken against the district judges concerned if they failed to respond within the next two weeks.

“Only on the request of the learned counsel for the High Court, we are not passing any harsh order against the concerned District Judges, however, if they do not respond within the next two weeks, we will be compelled to pass stringent orders against them,” the order read.

Earlier, on December 4, 2025, a bench comprising Justice Rajan Roy and Justice Indrajeet Shukla had recorded the state government’s assurance that funds would be allocated for eight districts within 15-20 days, while proposals from the remaining seven districts were still awaited from the respective district judges.

The case has been listed for further hearing on January 27, 2026.