Judicial Vacations

Judicial Vacations

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

What is Vacation in Judiciary?
• Judicial Workdays - The Supreme Court has 193 working days annually, High Courts function around 210 days, and trial courts operate for 245 days. High Courts possess the authority to structure their calendars as per service rules.
• Long-standing Practice - The practice of vacations, particularly the extensive 7-week (formerly 10-week) summer recess, has its origins in colonial times.

What are Vacation Benches?
• The CJI appoints a Vacation Bench, a specialized court that operates during the Supreme Court’s summer and winter breaks.
• The vacation benches handle cases that are deemed to be for “urgent matters” For example, matters relating to habeas corpus, certiorari, prohibition.
• Under Rule 6 of Order II of the Supreme Court Rules, 2013, the CJI nominates Division Benches for urgent miscellaneous and regular hearing matters during the summer vacation period. The rule allows for the appointment of judges to hear urgent cases individually or in a Division Court.

What are arguments in favor of Vacation?
• Advocates emphasize the need for vacation periods to provide judges with mental and physical rejuvenation.
• Considering the demanding nature of judicial work, proponents assert that the long working hours necessitate periodic breaks.
• Judges use vacation time to draft judgments, contributing to the timely disposal of cases.

What are arguments against Vacation?
• A common man holds a perception that despite having such huge pendency of cases, their judges go on long vacations. Further, during the vacations, the litigants have to suffer a lot despite having a handful of vacation courts/ benches.
• Critics argue that the extended and frequent vacations exacerbate the backlog of cases and contribute to the slow pace of justice delivery.
• For litigants, vacations translate to additional delays in case hearings.

What Judicial reforms have been proposed in this context?
• Malimath Committee (2000) - The committee proposed reducing vacation periods by 21 days, advocating for the Supreme Court to operate for 206 days and High Courts for 231 days annually.
• Supreme Court’s 2014 Rule Change - The Supreme Court truncated the summer vacation period from 10 weeks to seven weeks.
• RM Lodha Commission (2014) - It suggested that individual judges should take leave at different times throughout the year instead of having all judges on vacation at once.

What reforms have been proposed by parliamentary committee report?
• The 133rd committee has supported and advocated to implement RM Lodha Commission’s recommendation of individual judges to take leave at different times throughout the year.
• The parliamentary report calls for a reevaluation of the traditional concept of vacations, advocating for a more modern and efficient approach to court operation.
• The report suggests that the vacation practices of the Supreme Court and High Courts should be reviewed in comparison to other countries’ higher courts and constitutional institutions.