Prolonged Criminal Investigation Cannot Continue Endlessly; High Courts Must Intervene in Cases of Inordinate Delay: Supreme Court
Case Name: Sahil Abdulsattar Mansuri & Ors. v. Safimahamad Fafirbhai Mansuri & Ors.
Citation: 2026 INSC 626
Date of Judgment/Order: 04 June 2026
Bench: Sanjay Karol, J. and Augustine George Masih, J.
Held: The Supreme Court held that prolonged criminal investigation cannot be permitted to continue endlessly, and constitutional courts must not remain mute spectators when inordinate delay in investigation is brought to their notice. The Court reiterated that timely completion of investigation is an inherent facet of the right to speedy trial under Article 21 of the Constitution, and where there is an unexplained and excessive delay between the complaint/FIR and the final report or chargesheet, the Court is bound to seek an explanation from the investigating agency and satisfy itself as to the propriety of such explanation.
Summary: The case arose from a criminal complaint filed in 2007 by the appellants’ predecessor alleging forgery, cheating, criminal breach of trust and conspiracy in relation to Survey No. 761 at Bhiloda Village, Gujarat. The complainant alleged that while he was away on Haj pilgrimage, the accused forged his signature and prepared a forged partition deed and bogus sale deed, resulting in mutation of names in the revenue record. A C-Summary filed by the police in 2014 was rejected by the JMFC, who directed further investigation. The High Court in 2017 also directed preparation of an investigation report after noting that material collected during investigation had gone missing from police custody. The FSL report indicated that the complainant had not authored the signatures on the disputed documents, yet no chargesheet or final report was filed for years despite repeated applications and directions. The Gujarat High Court declined to issue directions under Article 226, but the Supreme Court held that nearly two decades of delay in investigation, coupled with loss of case records during active investigation, struck at the core of the criminal justice system and required constitutional intervention.
Decision: The Supreme Court allowed intervention in the matter and directed the State of Gujarat and Police Station Bhiloda to conclude the investigation within six weeks and file an appropriate report before the JMFC along with all available investigative material and, where material is unavailable, an explanation for such lack. The State of Gujarat was further directed to file an affidavit specifying the action taken against the officer responsible for the loss of records, whether such action had reached its logical conclusion, why the JMFC was not informed earlier about the inability to reconstruct records and trace witnesses despite directions for further investigation, and compliance with the direction to conclude investigation. The matter was directed to be listed on 14.07.2026 at 2:00 P.M. as part-heard.