Court Vacations - Do Supreme Court, High Court Judges Vacation Too Much?

What’s in today’s article?

• Why in News?
• Background
• Is This the First Time That the Centre Has Expressed Such a View?
• For How Long do Courts go on Vacations Currently?
• Examples of Other Countries
• What Happens to Important Cases During Court Vacations?
• Arguments in Favor of Court Vacations

 

Why in News?

• Terming court vacations a “colonial legacy”, a parliamentary committee has recommended that High Court judges should take turns going on vacation to tackle the mounting pendency of cases.

 

Background:

• The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice, chaired by BJP MP Sushil Kumar Modi, presented its 133rd report on "Judicial Processes and their reform" to both the Houses of the Parliament.
• The report noted that for reducing pendency of cases, there is a need to have a multi-pronged strategy.
• The report stated that vacations in the judiciary are a ‘colonial legacy’ and…entire court going on vacation causes deep inconvenience to the litigants.
• The committee reiterated a suggestion made by former Chief Justice of India R M Lodha on court vacations earlier.
  • The former CJI had suggested that instead of all the judges going on vacation, all at one time, individual judges should take their leave at different times through the year so that the courts are constantly open and there are always benches present to hear cases.

 

Is This the First Time That the Centre Has Expressed Such a View?

• The central government has brought up the issue of court vacations earlier too.
• In December, 2022, then Law Minister Kiren Rijiju criticized the judiciary for taking long vacations even as pending cases hit record levels every year.
• Responding to questions relating to pendency, Kiren Rijiju told Rajya Sabha that the problem cannot be resolved until a “new system” on the appointment of judges was put in place.
• He also said that “there is a feeling among people of India that the long vacation which the courts obtain is not very convenient for justice-seekers”, and that it is his “obligation and duty to convey the message or sense of this House to the judiciary”.
• The government is learned to have requested High Courts to fix the period of vacations to ensure that courts functioned for at least 222 working days.
• However, the parliamentary panel found that High Courts functioned for only 210 days on average.

 

For How Long do Courts go on Vacations Currently?

• The current working days for the judiciary are –
  • Supreme Court – 193 days/year
  • High Courts – 210 days/year
  • Trial Courts – 245 days/year
• The Supreme Court breaks for its annual summer vacation, which is typically for seven weeks starting at the end of May. The court reopens in July.
  • The Supreme Court also takes week-long breaks for Dussehra and Diwali, and two weeks at the end of December.

 

Examples of Other Countries:

• Despite the vacations, however, the Supreme Court of India has many more working days compared to the highest courts in other countries.
• For instance, the United States Supreme Court sits for 79 days/year with no oral arguments scheduled for a few months in between.
• The apex courts in Australia, the United Kingdom, and Singapore sit for a total of 97, 189, and 145 days respectively.

 

What Happens to Important Cases During Court Vacations?

• Generally, a few judges are available to hear urgent cases even when the court is in recess.
• “Vacation Benches” comprising two or three judges hear important cases that cannot wait.
• Cases such as bail, eviction, etc., often find precedence in listing before vacation benches.
• It is also not uncommon for courts to hear important cases during vacations.
• For example, in 2015, a five-judge Bench of the Supreme Court heard the challenge to the constitutional amendment setting up the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) during the summer vacation.
• In 2017, a Constitution Bench held a six-day hearing in the case challenging the practice of triple talaq during summer vacation.

 

Arguments in Favor of Court Vacations:

• Within the legal fraternity, the long breaks are strongly defended.
• Lawyers have often argued that in a profession that demands intellectual rigor and long working hours — both from lawyers and judges — vacations are much needed for rejuvenation.
• Another argument is that judges do not take leave of absence like other working professionals when the court is in session.
• Legal experts also point out that cutting down on court vacations will not see a dramatic decrease in pendency of cases, at least in the Supreme Court.
  • Data show that the Supreme Court roughly disposes of the same number of cases as are instituted before it in a calendar year.
  • The issue of pendency relates largely to legacy cases that need to be tackled systemically.

 

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Q1) What is the meaning of Judicial Activism?

Judicial activism is the exercise of the power of judicial review to set aside government acts. Generally, the phrase is used to identify undesirable exercises of that power, but there is little agreement on which instances are undesirable.

 

Q2)  What is the meaning of Appellate Jurisdiction in simple terms?

Appellate jurisdiction refers to the power of a court to hear appeals from lower courts.

 

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Source: Do SC, HCs judges vacation too much? Here’s the debate, and the facts of the situation | Hindu