Supreme Court Grants Bail To 72-Year-Old Convict After Allahabad High Court Took 41 Years To Decide Appeal

In Vijay Singh v State of Uttar Pradesh, the Supreme Court has granted bail to a 72-year-old man whose criminal appeal remained pending before the Allahabad High Court for more than four decades. The Court also expressed concern over the extraordinary delay of 41 years in deciding the appeal.

A Bench of Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice Atul Chandurkar was hearing a special leave petition filed by Vijay Singh. The petitioner challenged a February 2026 judgement of the Allahabad High Court that upheld his conviction and life sentence in a murder case.

The case dates back to 1983, when Singh was accused of murdering his brother in Kanpur. A Trial Court convicted him in December 1985 and sentenced him to life imprisonment. Soon after the conviction, he filed an appeal before the Allahabad High Court.

During the pendency of the appeal, Singh was granted bail. He remained on bail for around 40 years while the appeal continued to remain unresolved before the High Court. The appeal was finally dismissed on February 9, 2026.

Appearing for the petitioner, Senior Advocate Siddharth Dave informed the Supreme Court that Singh had spent only about three months in jail and had maintained an unblemished record throughout the period he remained on bail.

Dave argued that the appellant had spent his entire adult life under the shadow of a conviction while waiting for his appeal to be decided. He sought interim bail while the Supreme Court considers the challenge to the High Court’s judgement.

After a brief hearing, the Supreme Court granted bail to Singh, subject to conditions imposed by the Trial Court. The Bench also issued notice to the State of Uttar Pradesh and directed that the Trial Court records be produced before it.

The Court went a step further and asked the petitioner’s counsel to suggest measures that High Courts could adopt to ensure that such long-pending criminal appeals are disposed of in a timely manner.

Notably, while the Allahabad High Court upheld the conviction after examining the evidence and concluding that the prosecution had proved the case beyond reasonable doubt, its 20-page judgement reportedly did not explain why the appeal had remained pending for nearly 41 years.

In his plea before the Supreme Court, Singh stated: “He is now 72 years old. For over four decades, through youth, middle age, and now old age he has lived under the shadow of that conviction.”

The matter will now be examined further by the Supreme Court, which is expected to consider both the challenge to the conviction and the broader issue of prolonged delays in criminal appeals.