New Delhi, May 4 -- The Supreme Court's attempt to probe a four-decade delay in a criminal trial led to an unexpected moment of institutional introspection, as it emerged that the proceedings had effectively remained frozen for over a decade because the original records had been requisitioned by the top court in 2013, and never returned.

A bench of justices PS Narasimha and Alok Aradhe was hearing an appeal arising from the conviction of a lawyer, who had been sentenced to one month's imprisonment for allegedly tampering with court records in a land acquisition matter. What began as a routine inquiry into inordinate delay took an unusual turn when the bench was informed that the trial court had been unable to proceed in the absence of th...