Lawyers want vacations, judiciary blamed for case backlog: CJI B.R. Gavai

Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai on Wednesday, 21 May, said lawyers don't want to work during vacation but the judiciary is blamed for the backlog of cases.

A bench comprising Chief Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih got miffed when a lawyer urged listing of a petition after the summer vacation.

“The first five judges are sitting through the vacation and continuing to work, yet we are blamed for the backlog. In reality, it is the lawyers who are unwilling to work during the vacations,” the CJI said.

Recently, the top court issued a notification on the benches that will function during the upcoming summer vacation, rechristened as "partial court working days", from 26 May to 13 July.

Significantly, there will be 2–5 vacation benches sitting during the partial court working days and even the top five judges, including the CJI, will be holding court during this period.

In earlier practice, there used to be only two vacation benches during the summer vacation and senior judges were not supposed to hold court.

The latest notification, however, outlining the weekly allocation of justices across benches, includes the seniormost judges.

From 26 May to 1 June, the CJI as well as justices Suryakant, Vikram Nath, J.K. Maheshwari and B.V. Nagarathna will be heading the five benches respectively.

During this period, the apex court registry will remain open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. for all officers and staff.

The registry will be closed on all Saturdays (except 12 July), Sundays and public holidays.