JITENDRA KUMAR RODE VS. UNION OF INDIA (2024) 11 SCC 559

AUTHOR – PRAGATI GARG, VIVEKANANDA INSTITUTE OF PROFESSIONAL STUDIES-TECHNICAL CAMPUS, GURU GOBIND SINGH INDRAPRASTHA UNIVERSITY (GGSIPU), DEPARTMENT OF LAW, ENROLLED IN THE 5 YEAR INTEGRATED BBALLB COURSE

BEST CITATION – PRAGATI GARG, JITENDRA KUMAR RODE VS. UNION OF INDIA (2024) 11 SCC 559, INDIAN JOURNAL OF LEGAL REVIEW (IJLR), 5 (12) OF 2025, PG. 301-304, APIS – 3920 – 0001 & ISSN – 2583-2344.

ABSTRACT

This case engages the intersection of procedural criminal law and constitutional guarantees, foregrounding the jurisprudential tension between appellate efficiency and the integrity of due process. In Jitendra Kumar Rode v. Union of India, the Supreme Court interrogates the structural necessity of trial records in appellate adjudication, framing their absence as a constitutional infirmity under Article 21. The judgment advances a normative claim: that procedural compliance is not merely a technical prerequisite but a substantive condition for justice. By rejecting reconstructed records and refusing to endorse a retrial after decades, the Court articulates a rights-based threshold for appellate legitimacy. The directive for digitization of judicial records signals a systemic shift toward institutional accountability, embedding procedural fidelity within the architecture of constitutional adjudication.Keywords: Fair Legal Procedure; Article 21 – Right to Life and Personal Liberty; Section 385 CrPC; Appellate Adjudication; Judicial Record Digitization