India, Feb. 5 -- The Delhi High Court has taken "serious note" of an "extraordinary delay" of 13 years in getting hold of a convict in a murder case, even after the dismissal of his appeal, and said such episodes corrode the credibility of the criminal justice system.

A bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Ravinder Dudeja observed that the case showed a "serious systemic failure" in ensuring enforcement of judicial orders due to a lack of coordination amongst the trial court, the jail administration and the police.

Asserting that there were deficiencies in the follow-up required after conviction and the grant of bail, the court opined that there was a need to set up a mechanism to ensure that such incidents did not recur in the future and...