On Tuesday, the Supreme Court stressed that the constitutional right to a speedy trial aims to protect undertrials from prolonged detention while also delivering prompt justice to victims and their families, voicing concern over the extended delays in criminal trials in the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The court further noted that the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh could have stepped in sooner. (Photo from HT file). While hearing a case concerning delays in a murder trial, a court bench expressed that it was “extremely disappointed” to learn that as many as 351 sessions trials in the UT have been pending for over five years, involving a total of 585 accused persons. The court was especially disturbed that most of these cases—235 in total—remain stalled at the stage of recording oral evidence from prosecution witnesses, highlighting systemic delays in trial proceedings. The court stressed that the right to a speedy trial, derived from Article 21 of the Constitution, must not be interpreted narrowly as a protection solely for the accused. The primary objective of starting this initiative is to prevent undertrials from remaining in jail indefinitely. The victims deserve swift justice as well. We have often observed that justice must not only be served to the accused. The bench observed that justice must also be served to the victims as well as their families and loved ones. Also Read: Supreme Court orders strict timeline for acid attack trials.