Supreme Court wants law to safeguard multi-crore court deposits

A law is necessary to protect crores deposited by litigants across courts and tribunals in the country during pending appeals, the Supreme Court said in a recent judgment.

A Bench of Justices P.S. Narasimha and Alok Aradhe observed that litigants’ money should be saved from ad-hoc management while calling for nationwide legislative reform to standardise how courts and tribunals handle money deposited during pending litigation.

The apex court pointed out the problem of the absence of uniform rules governing court-ordered deposits. For example, a court would direct a litigant to deposit money in order to get a stay while his or her appeal is heard out.