Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Monday directed lawyers seeking urgent hearings during the Supreme Court’s vacation period to route their requests through the court registry, saying the reasons cited for urgency would be examined before any listing is granted.
The direction came during a special vacation sitting of the Supreme Court of India, where the Chief Justice was hearing urgent matters along with Joymalya Bagchi. As proceedings began, several lawyers started mentioning cases orally for immediate listing.
Intervening, the Chief Justice made it clear that the practice of mentioning cases directly before the bench would not be entertained during the vacation. He asked advocates to submit written reasons for urgency to the registry instead.
“Instead of mentioning, furnish reasons to the Registry. The reasons will be scrutinised. If found urgent, it shall be tentatively listed either on December 26 or December 29,” the Chief Justice said.
The bench explained that the special sitting had been arranged to ensure that genuinely pressing cases do not go unheard during the Christmas and New Year holidays, when regular court functioning remains suspended. The emphasis, however, was on a structured process to filter urgent matters.
Last Friday, Chief Justice Surya Kant had indicated his willingness to sit on December 22, the first day of the Supreme Court’s winter vacation, to hear cases requiring immediate judicial intervention. Monday’s sitting followed that assurance, with the court underlining that urgency would be determined by the registry based on reasons furnished by litigants and lawyers, not by oral mentions in open court.
