No SC benches to be available during winter vacation: CJI D Y Chandrachud

Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud on Friday said no Supreme Court bench will be available from December 17 till January 1 during the ensuing winter vacationsThe CJIs announcement made in the apex court assumes significance in the wake of Union Law Minister Kiren Rijijus statement in Rajya Sabha on Thursday in which he said there was a feeling among the people that long court vacations were not very convenient for justice seekersThere will be no benches available from tomorrow till January 1 Justice Chandrachud informed the lawyers present in the courtroom at the outsetFriday is the last working day of the top court before it goes on a twoweek winter break The apex court will reopen on January 2The issue regarding court vacations has been raised earlier also but judges including former CJI N V Ramana had said there is a misconception that judges stay in ultimate comfort and enjoy their holidaysAlso Read We must create multitude of equitable ways for different groups CJI ChandrachudDelivering the inaugural Justice SB Sinha Memorial Lecture on Life of a Judge in Ranchi in July the then CJI Ramana had said judges spend sleepless nights rethinking their decisionsThere exists a misconception in the minds of the people that judges stay in ultimate comfort work only from 10 am to 4 pm and enjoy their holidays Such a narrative is untrue when false narratives are created about the supposed easy life led by judges it is difficult to swallow he had saidJustice Ramana had said the responsibility of judging is extremely burdensome owing to the human implication of the rulingsWe continue to work even during weekends and court holidays to do research and author pending judgments In this process we miss out on many joys of our lives he had saidSimilarly a former judge of the Delhi High Court Justice Jayant Nath had in November last year said that the public perception of courts going on vacations like schools was not correct and an appropriate machinery must be engaged to project their hard work for an image changeIt is a known fact that courts are overburdened with long pending cases Unfortunately the perception of a common man is to blame the court for delay in disposal of cases Much is said about the courts going on vacations comparing it with school vacations I can say with full conviction that this public image is not correct Justice Nath had said while speaking at his farewell reference organised by the high court on November 9 last yearRijiju informed Parliament on Thursday that as on December 9 against the sanctioned strength of 1108 judges 777 were working in the 25 high courts leaving a vacancy of 331 30 per centAgainst 331 vacancies at present 147 proposals received from various high courts were at various stages of processing between the government and the Supreme Court Collegium he said in response to a written question in Rajya SabhaFurther recommendations from high court collegiums are yet to be received in respect of 184 vacancies the minister pointed outRijiju said in 2022 till December 9 the government has appointed a record number of 165 judges in various high courts which is the highest in a calendar year so farOf late the collegium system has become a major flashpoint between the Supreme Court and the central government with the mechanism of judges appointing judges drawing criticism from different quartersRijiju had on November 25 launched a fresh attack saying the collegium system is alien to the ConstitutionOn the judicial side an apex court bench led by Justice S K Kaul has been very critical of the delay by the Centre in clearing the names recommended by the collegium for appointment as judges to constitutional courts saying the collegium system is the law of the land and comments against it are not welltakenThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever