Within the highest court docket of the land, an adjournment isn’t just a easy shifting of dates. It represents a colossal drain on the time of an establishment that’s already weighed down by circumstances that make up among the many heaviest rosters for apex courts wherever. It provides not solely to the thousands-strong backlog of circumstances clogging the judicial pipeline within the prime court docket but in addition raises the limitations for accessing justice for the citizen, for whom every court docket date means further monetary and logistical pressure.
Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud emphasised this level final week when he urged legal professionals to not let the Supreme Court docket devolve right into a “tareekh pe tareekh” (a date after date) court docket. He disclosed that legal professionals requested for adjournments in 3,688 circumstances within the final two months whereas most of those circumstances had been talked about for pressing hearings. This, the CJI argued, eroded the belief of residents on this court docket and tarnished the picture of the court docket within the eyes of the folks. He additionally underlined the dimensions of the issue, noting that on common, each miscellaneous day, 154 adjournment notices had been circulated. Worse nonetheless, he mentioned there have been a minimum of 2,361 circumstances talked about by legal professionals for task of early dates of listening to, however most of them had been requested to be deferred once they got here up earlier than the benches involved.
The CJI’s criticism sheds gentle on an essential level and should seep via to each degree of the judiciary to impact a structural change. Adjournments are a crucial instrument within the judicial system, in fact, however these shouldn’t be used cavalierly, or as a stalling mechanism. The court docket’s time is treasured, as is the cash and energy of each litigant.
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