Honourable Holidays Mr Justice is on Vacation
Vacationing may very well help you rejuvenate yourself and help you start your life afresh once you are back to the mundane. It may very well up your sagging spirits. But, no matter how articulately you enlist the positive effects of vacations, it is prima facie unreasonable for their Lordships – the hallowed Law keepers of the land - of the Indian Judiciary to go on long vacations, when the number of pending cases before them is sky rocketing!
Vacationing may very well help you rejuvenate yourself and help you start your life afresh once you are back to the mundane. It may very well up your sagging spirits. But, no matter how articulately you enlist the positive effects of vacations, it is prima facie unreasonable for their Lordships – the hallowed Law keepers of the land - of the Indian Judiciary to go on long vacations, when the number of pending cases before them is sky rocketing!
A glance at the calendar of the Supreme Court for this year would be able to drive the point home. The Supreme Court yearly vacation was from 16th May to 2nd July, which is a good one month and 19 days, and about 43 days cumulatively, in terms of festivals and public holidays. This brings the total number of days on which the Supreme Court will not function, to about three months. Therefore, in the year 2011 the Supreme Court will be functioning only for nine months. This limited time of nine months can be increased considerably if the yearly vacation is done away with. Now, this does not mean that all the Judges should be made to work round the year. Instead, if the vacation can be made available to the Judges in turns, then there will be a lesser waste of time.
The 230th Law Commission of India Report of Judicial Reforms addresses this issue. The Law Commission recommends that, due to the high rate of pendency of cases and the tendency of the lawyers to seek adjournments on flimsy needs, the time allotted for court holidays needs to be checked. The Report also recommends that the vacation period of the entire Judiciary - starting from the Apex Court - should be lessened by at least 10-15 days. The other alternative suggested by the report is that the attendance of the Judges at international conferences should be taken up in turns. Further, the report recommends that if the working hours are extended by even half an hour, the Judges will be able to contribute in a large way to check the high rates of pendency. The Report specifically recommends that the higher remuneration should be reciprocated by complete devotion of time to discharge their judicial functions.
The following table shows the year-wise number of days on which the Supreme Court of India remains closed on account of either vacation or festivities and public holidays.
The table connotes that on an average the Supreme Court remains closed cumulatively for three months in a given year; in the sense that the Supreme Court is open for the redressal merely for nine months.
The following table depicts the number of holidays excluding the weekly holidays but including the vacation period of Supreme Courts of a few nations:
The days of vacation should always be weighed with corresponding rate of pendency and the crunch of time. Given the high rate of cases pending disposal in the Supreme Court of India, a shorter vacation would have a larger impact.
Relevance of reducing the number of holidays
It is an admitted fact that for institutions like that of Supreme Court, time is extremely valuable and cannot be afforded to go unproductive. To top it all, a large part of the pie gets marked as holidays. Apart from the marked yearly vacation of over a month and above, the Supreme Court cannot function on a list of days due to religious festivities.
It is a lesser-known fact that the Supreme Court of United States does not have a yearly vacation. Although the hearing sittings are limited for a few months but during the rest of the year, the Judges are ‘at work’, in the sense the Judges will be either researching on the cases before them, holding conferences etc. After they have worked on a case at hand, depending on the stage of the case, there are a few months allocated only for pronouncement of judgments. But one thing to be noted is that the entire dockets of cases of any given year are disposed off in a year’s time.
In case of the Indian Apex Court, the scenario is entirely different. There may be many of us who might argue that, the legal systems of the two nations are different or there is a vast difference on the number of cases pending and the procedure followed in both the nations. All these arguments are true but an attempt is being made in this article to analyze what will be the effect of reducing the vacation period of the courts in India. Reducing the vacation period is one of the factors that can be thought out to increase the speed of disposal of cases. It is pertinent to note that the quorum of judges in the US Supreme Court is nine. Indian Supreme Court is jeweled with twenty-seven Judges excluding the Chief Justice.
The Apex Court of Australia gets about 6 weeks of vacation spread over in summer and winter, which is much lesser when compared to India. One of the aspects to be considered at this juncture is the high rate of pendency of cases in India. Unlike Australia, the cases pending for disposal before the Supreme Court of India are way beyond comparison. This yardstick is of high importance because the attention of the Supreme Court is crippled due to paucity of time. This problem can be addressed to a larger extent if the vacation period is reduced even by a few weeks every year.
According to Frank Tyger, “When you like your work every day is a holiday.” This sentence says it all. If everyone in the Judiciary including the Judges, advocates and all the office bearers imbibe in themselves these words of Tyger, then it will surely reduce the rate of pendency of cases. The long drawn process and procedure of Courts of Law will not put any litigant to sufferance. There have been instances which connote that no Judge is willing to like the work he does and hence he seems to be enjoying the holidays by making the layman wait; most of the times for more than a decade! Let the Hon’ble Judges acknowledge the vitality of reducing the holidays and address the nation in a way as is required and aspired by the citizens.
Raghul Sudheesh is Associate Editor at Bar & Bench and Bharat R. Itagi is a law student at University College of Law, Dharwad, Karnataka.
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Monday, June 17, 2013 - 10:46am
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Wednesday, June 12, 2013 - 12:55pm
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Wednesday, June 5, 2013 - 5:54pm
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George Giri
August 8, 2011 - 5:00pmThe Judges in the Supreme Court of India are in the supreme position and most of them have crossed 62 years. They retire at the age of 65 years, unlike the High Court Judges who retire at 62. Hence we can call them as "super elder judges", who work without considering the limitations of their age. They are in open court from 10.30 AM to 4.00pm., except of a lunch break of 1.00pm to 2.00pm. Don't think that they are not working at other times of the day. They read each and every file of the case to be taken on the next day and they read and do research even in late hours of night. They get up early in the morning, and prepares for the case, write judgment. This much hard work from a senior citizen is enough or not? They are not like American Judges, who have only a few cases before them. What they do for a year, is done by a Supreme Court Judge in India by a day. The reason for the huge pendency of cases because of the policy of filing unnecessary appeals ans unnecessary SLPs by the Union of India and by the various State Governments. Most of such appeals are absolutely unnecessary and just for making money for the Government Counsels and with a view to drag the matter. If such appeals are not filed, the pendency of Supreme Court will come to an end by within a year. There is a sanctioned strength of 30 Judges plus a Chief Justice of India in Supreme Court. In these circumstances, the holiday given to the Hon'ble judges is absolutely warranted. We must congratulate the Judges who do hard work, without considering their age. After all, they are human beings: They are also, father/mother, grand father/grand mother, husband/ wife, etc. They are sacrificing their personal life and serving the nation. Don't forget this when you view the holidays of the Judiciary. There is vacation courts to hear the emergency matters. There is no medicine for the disease "Jealousy"!!!
H
August 8, 2011 - 7:51pmIt is a well written article. This point is often overlooked when we discuss about the back log of cases in the judiciary. It must not be viewed as an accusation, but as a point worth deliberation in judiciary and ministerial level.It will be welcome, if someone from the higher judiciary brings this up for a discussion.
C S. Shettar
August 8, 2011 - 8:52pmGuys its an appreciable work... i do appreciate all the comments passed for and against, but to be clear nowhere in the article above we can find a reference as to all the judges and other staff at SC are lazy or they are running away from work. the article just criticize that, compared to the previous years and other nations the holidays are increasing. we know that the judges and other concerned staff are also human beings, but the 230th law commission report has addressed this issue keeping in mind the layman, who is awaiting for his matter to be admitted or for final judgement and also if we include all Saturdays the total no. of holidays crosses 150. so i prefer the attempt should be made to lessen the vacations.
C.S.Shettar
August 8, 2011 - 8:54pmGuys it is an appreciable work... I do appreciate all the comments passed for and against, but to be clear nowhere in the article above we can find a reference as to all the judges and other staff at SC are lazy or they are running away from work. the article just criticize that, compared to the previous years and other nations the holidays are increasing. we know that the judges and other concerned staff are also human beings, but the 230th law commission report has addressed this issue keeping in mind the layman, who is awaiting for his matter to be admitted or for final judgement and also if we include all Saturdays the total no. of holidays crosses 150. so i prefer the attempt should be made to lessen the vacations.
Amit Jain
August 8, 2011 - 10:11pmI think the issue is the number of cases pending and not holidays per se. I am not a legal wizard and thus my views may not fit to the legal requirement but I find a good analogy from the medical profession/hospitals. The senior doctors time is precious while there are many cases which come to the hospital. The cases are first attended by junior doctors/interns and then taken for further examination by the senior surgeon if needed. Not sure but in Supreme Court also something of this sort can work. There are many case including SLPs which are filed . Some in the later category may be frivolous which may get rejected by the judge in the first hearing. Why not have a training cadre/cadre of law officer who looks at all SLPs and its merit and only the serious ones are put up for hearing my the Supreme Court judges. This will make the judge concentrate on serious cases only and thus there may be reduction in pending cases.
Vishnu S
August 8, 2011 - 10:17pmDear Amit: The anology is good. But in my opinion the Constitutional provisions will be against implementing your idea. Anyways good work Raghul and Bharat!
Le
August 8, 2011 - 10:32pmafter working as a judicial researcher at SC, I would agree with George that judges work pretty hard, however i do not agree that age alone should be a determining factor to give holidays. the best lawyers in HCs and SC are over 65 and many senior counsels of HCs do not want to become judge as it would mean virtual no work after retirement at age of 65.
Anukanksha Kalkeri
August 9, 2011 - 12:08amFirst of all, should appreciate the matter that is opened up for a discussion. Well, I agree with what the article is intending to say, rather than judging it's literal words and deviating the core of the notion. Another aspect that I would like to get myself clarified with is, considering all the factors of Judges too, being Humans and not Machines, 'Senior citizens' and the like, and for a while accepting the present system of a 'Three-Month' Vacation gap, Can i know what is it that is going on in the rest nine months' span?.. What I mean to say is, it is unanimously accepted that, it is the "Quality" and not the "Quantity" of work,that ultimately ripens the fruit. I mean if the judges are sure of serving justice to the most needy, helpless victim in a span of nine months of their working, then the Commission would have never bothered to address the issue on their "VACATION PERIOD".Meaning, I never doubt the credibility of the Honorable Judges, but what am trying to say is, when the whole system knows about the norms of it to be followed, the delay in every step, the encouragement of the most reckless adjournments, it is very obvious to witness an overall delay and the cases pending are bound to increase annually, and the same prolonged and depressing cycle of serving Justice to the victimized, is gonna continue. Its indeed a terrific scene to watch thousands dying every year with a deep, unsatisfied thirst and hunger for Justice and the justification for this received so far is.."Can't help, the system is so". So, the question to be hit on is IF the Counsels arguing for the needy and the Judges, together,CAN mutually expedite the entire process,there would be no harm in cutting a sphere of 'MORE' time for their personal life and all, but when the case is not so, its high time we realize the waste of precious time and pay the due heed to the shedding eyes..
Manu Govind
August 9, 2011 - 11:30pmOn reading the first comment, i presume, this area is frequently visited by the elder-men.
alankar
August 10, 2011 - 11:20amjudicial leaders should lead by example & collegium must reflect india,s social reality.
Anon E. Mouse
August 12, 2011 - 6:44pmThough the authors may have been well meaning, the suggestion put forth by them is rather sophomoric. They themselves agree (in the comments) that a large cause of pendency of cases is the casual manner in which the state files SLPs and furthermore the casual manner in which the Supreme Court often accepts them. With this I completely agree. But I fail to see how reducing vacation days will help anything. The biggest problem with our profession is how backward it is in its thinking. To make people work 6 days a week (as in District courts) and to reduce vacation days DOES NOT make people more productive (as research world over is showing). In the best case scenario it makes them fatigued, and therefore not performing to their best. In the worst case scenario, it makes them resentful (which not only affects their productive as far as no. of cases being disposed off, but also their ability to do justice). Life isn't about working 24x7, and certainly those profiles which require a heavy use of one's intellect necessitate a need for a break every now and then to refresh one's spirit and mind. We should learn from the Europeans who manage a fantastic work-life balance.
Padinjaremury
August 8, 2011 - 5:38pmDuring the lunch break also they work and hear special bench matters from 1.30pm to 2.00pm, including revisions, curative petitions, etc. They are not machines, but human beings with blood and flush...
Chinmay
August 13, 2011 - 5:47pmVacations are important for everyone i.e. from President of India to a Dweller on a street so i feel our Hon'ble Judges going on vacation is fair enough as it advantages into a refresh mind and if we consider the urgent matters the vacation bench is always there and coming apart to vacations on relegious and other national holidays i remember a case in regard to a Kerala based company were question was regard to holidays on different religious and national occasions the apex court has held that the purpose of kerala govt under the regulation was people to involve in social life also hence i also feel that the vacations help to refresh and bring them into social life also and we should not forget that the Hon'ble Lord Judges are also human beings.
Sreejit
August 14, 2011 - 1:31amIn my view there is nothing wrong in the long vacations of the Supreme Court or even for that matter the High Court. The Hon'ble Justices do a commendable job, which cannot be measured in terms of number of hours or working days. Judicial work in its true sense is sapping. Holidays help refresh and enable judges to be sharp while on the bench. The long holidays are in the interest of the judiciary and therefore, in public interest.The cause for pendency lies somewhere else, some of which I can immediately think of, (i) the abysmally low number of judges, (ii) frivolous petitions & appeals and (iii) conduct of some litigants and their advocates. What could probably be done is to have holidays for judges in batches so that at any given time, 2/3rd of the Hon'ble Judges are in office.To my knowledge, the Government is the largest litigant of all - Centre, States, PSUs, Authorities and Undertakings. The 'State', as under Article 12, is hardly well advised on legal matters - counsel is sought when things go out of hand and ultimately result in unnecessary litigation that are prolonged to satisfy the ego of functionaries. Secondly, State must refrain from litigating matters solely on the ground that all adverse orders must be challenged or which in fairness lack merits. If the quality and number of legal advisers to the State and its authorities is improved then there will be almost 30% drop in litigation in the superior courts.
Bharat
August 14, 2011 - 1:31amDear Chinmay, I appreciate your view. But no where in the write up it is mentioned that Hon'ble Justices should never go on a vacation. Read the article again and try to take out the purpose that is in it. The thought that has been put out is that the VACATIONS should be reduced. I remember on of my friend Chinmay Deshpande saying that the college vacations are too much this time around and hence it will be difficult to get back into the wave of studies. So as human beings the same applies to the Hon'ble Judges of the Apex Court as well. Too much of vacations may drag them into laziness by which they might avoid the work. Let us consider the importance of the thought that has been put forward into the article i.e. sufferance of the layman due to wasting of time.
Chinmay
August 14, 2011 - 7:11pmBharat with all respects and compliments to ur work and rebutting ur coment to me first fall freind you cannot compare an process in a judiciary to the studies because it becomes an unreasonable effort to reply and is not acceptable and i understand that the material content is on vacations shall be reduced my question is why it should be reduced and if we want to bring control to pendancy of suits freind if u have visited the nearest circuit bench of karnataka high court you can see advocates seeking for adjournments is in majority of cases something shall be made in this regard to avoid adjournments thus u can control pendancy and u need not bother for vacations and another which i want to repeat is again in vacations also part of court is functioning hence strict course of action shall be brought over advocates.
Bharat
August 14, 2011 - 9:07pmWell..... I never said the context would be same in regards to Judges with studies. You might notice the words like MAY and MIGHT in my comment. But in every work you do, if you take a long time off from it, it is hard for you to get back to it and you will have to accept this incase you are speaking of a human beings. Now coming to your question of why the vacations should be reduced? The article speaks all about it. Next, we have never denied the fact that advocates are also responsible for the number of pendency of cases. But, vacations also play an important role and are equally responsible for the increase in pendency rate. Do you think the Law Commission has given its report without carrying any research? Do you think it has no work to recommend such things? If we go by your point it sends out a message that Law Commission is of no use. Let me bring to your notice that the Law Commission of India has been established as the recommendatory body with the aim of improving the Judicial system in India.
Cannot understa...
August 16, 2011 - 8:36pmAgreed that judges put in long hours and do a commendable job. Appreciate they need "vacations". BUT WHY WOULD THEY NEED LONG SUMMER, WINTER & OTHER VACATIONS? Isn't a month's leave a year (plus weekends and public holidays) enough for judges to recharge batteries? Also, if judges have 30-days/ year as leave entitlement, they can take vacations such that the court is at least at 50% capacity at any given time. Enough practising lawyers would be happy with this deal, given the prestige of the office and the nature of the job, even if it means retiring from a lucrative private practice.
Rajni sharma
August 18, 2011 - 8:06pmIf Judges work round the year what happens to poor Advocates who do the fielding at court,then attend clients and over if matter heavy brief Senior in the matter,do pleading and update themselves. Holidays give breathing time to judges also to Advocates. and hence to say courts works only 1/3 of year time is singly inhuman.
Johnson
August 8, 2011 - 5:39pmSupreme court of America do not need a vacation. They are doing the cases in a vacation mood. There are limited number of cases and limited time for argument. Other time they are free. Hence, when ever they wish to work, they work and when ever they wish to take off, they do. The situation in in India is contrary. They hard work to reduce the pendency of cases. This is evident from the cause list of the Supreme Court of India and the statistics of disposed cases. Kindly read it together with the number of fresh filings too.
San
August 8, 2011 - 6:16pmI agree with most of you but I would like raise few points here, why would the 230th law commission recommend the reduction of holidays??? why judges from countries like UK, Canada and Australia are taking half the holidays which our judges take??? Accdg to the stats available on SC website cases pending as on 30/06/11 were 57,179...its high time they realize this and take this issue more seriously.
Rajneesh Singh
August 8, 2011 - 6:34pmBrilliant one!!!!!!!!Mr Giri, Why are u using a word senior citizen. That term has a sense after retirement. If they can not work then their retirement age should be revised. The issue is very simple. "Justice delayed is justice denied". To have record number of pending cases is already a big crime. I catch a boy suspecting that he has stolen some valuables from my house. after 12 hours i release him saying that, "sorry it was my mistake, actually it was some one else". This is what Judiciary in India is doing.This is a situation like emergency. Judiciary has to work much more than what they are doing now. why they are closed most of the time. instead of working more they are enjoying more holidays. A non Performing PM can not put a excuse that system is bad.
Ashu goyal
August 8, 2011 - 7:20pmJudges holidays are over hyped. Any body having experience of trial courts. In punjab 15 days summer vacations, 10 festival holidays, 8 winter holidays in lieu of 2nd saturdays and saturday working. Only Sunday is off day . All other days are working. They are dealing with files dealing people and not producing finished industrial products
Raghul Sudheesh
August 8, 2011 - 7:29pmDear Mr.George: All other Apex Court Judges are almost of the same age; if not more. Further the number of cases; More than half of the cases in Supreme Court are SLP's. SLP was meant to be an extra ordinary jurisdiction. But now all people file SLP and almost to all SLP's, leave is granted. Firstly SC should restrict granting of leave to any SLP that is filed. I know how the system work over there. I have worked under a Judge in the Apex Court as law trainee. Once the restriction/screening on SLP is implemented; half of the problem is solved. Moreover the article never meant all holidays should be taken away but only reduce the holidays as per the recommendations of law commission.
Raghul Sudheesh
August 8, 2011 - 7:30pmDear Ashu Goyal: The article was with reference to holidays in Supreme Court of India. We have never referred to statistics in Trial Courts or High Courts.
Abhay Itagi
August 8, 2011 - 7:51pmThe article is a humble suggestion by law students. It is backed by statistics which are cross-verifiable and excerpts from one of the recommendations of the Law Commission of India, needless to explain its authenticity. The originality of thought and the research these authors have undertaken deserves a motivational applause coupled with healthy criticism. I recoiled in dismay and delusion when I read the adverse comments. Dear budding authors, let this kind of emotion-filled, illogical, ill-informed and ignorant comments not hamper your motivation to contribute your own ideas in future. Criticism had to be emotional since it could not have been backed by logical suggestions. The article does not seem to be intended to convey the message that the SC Judges are not senior citizens. Nor does the article question the duty of a judge in serving their nation.Oh and on the remark of of being jealous, its not even worth rebutting. But am sure and hope you don't fall prey to these scrupulous remarks. Stay healthy and disease-free guys!!! Good Work!!
Suraj Parkash
March 22, 2013 - 7:36pmWhen some body questions the holidays and pending work in a public organisation in public interest, how will the Hon'ble judges decide? Let us see how they answer to this question.
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