Expressing serious concern over inordinate delays running into years in framing of charges after filing of chargesheets in criminal cases, the Supreme Court on Wednesday sought the assistance of Attorney General R Venkataramani and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to lay down pan-India guidelines to address the malaise.

“We have noticed, time and again, the charges are not being framed even months and years after the filing of the chargesheet. This is one of the primary reasons for the trial getting delayed. Unless and until the charges are framed in a criminal case, the trial cannot commence. As such, this situation seems to be prevalent in most of the courts and we are of the considered opinion that certain directions need to be issued pan-India in this regard,” a Bench led by Justice Ara

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