New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday, December 8, 2025, came down heavily on Uttar Pradesh Police and the state counsel for appearing before it to oppose an acquittal in a criminal case while being completely unaware of the details of the case.

The police officer as well as the advocate representing the Uttar Pradesh government did not know basic details of the acquitted man's criminal record, the Supreme Court bench of Justices Ahsanuddin Amanullah and N. Kotiswar Singh, hearing the state's appeal, noted:

“We can only indicate the unfortunate situation which prevails at the ground level especially, the police, where absolutely, casual approach is adopted in court matters. If this is the level of casualness before this court, it is not difficult to understand the response and conduct of these police officers in the administration of justice at the ground level."

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"However, we stop for the moment from commenting more on such conduct and leave it to be considered at a later stage,” the court remarked, legal news website LiveLaw reported.

The backstory is that the acquitted man – Bhairo Singh – was one among several convicted in 1982 by a trial court for having killed a police officer in 1981.

Singh was the sole surviving convict when the Allahabad High Court overturned this verdict, forty years later in 2024, thus setting him free.

It is this acquittal that the Uttar Pradesh government sought to oppose in the Supreme Court during the December 8 hearing.

The Supreme Court bench expressed surprise that the state counsel also appeared uninformed. When asked to provide details of the respondent's past record, he reportedly conceded that he would need to “take instructions.”

Recording its disapproval, the bench remarked that it was unclear how the state could have filed the appeal without basic information on the respondent's antecedents or the outcome of previous cases.

The court observed that the episode illustrated a deeper problem within the police system, where a casual approach was routinely adopted in court matters. The judges noted that the sub-inspector present in court was also unable to answer any such queries, reflecting the lack of preparation.

The matter will be taken up next on February 25, 2026. The court has directed that records of the lower courts be requisitioned (to be sent to the Supreme Court) and that the state government obtains full instructions on all aspects of the case by then.

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