All work and no play for SC judges as they brace for a long summer

Pendency in the judiciary has been a matter of concern. The issue has been raised on several forums, but the SC has blamed it on the lack of judges

At least 19 out of the 28 judges of the Supreme Court will not take a vacation. For the first time in the history of the SC, a constitution bench will sit during the summer vacation to hear the triple talaq matter. Apart from this the SC would also hear two other crucial petitions relating to WhatsApp sharing with Facebook and also a plea relating to Bangladeshi migrants.

When Chief Justice of India, J S Khehar came out with the schedule,the same was objected to by many lawyers including the Attorney General of India Mukul Rohatgi. They felt that simultaneous hearing would affect these cases. The consent of the lawyers ought to be taken into consideration, rules and traditions demand, the AG pointed out.

The CJI was however firm on his decision and said, " if we do not hear the matter now, it would be pending for years. If you do not feel like cooperating then let us know. Later on do not come back to us and say that the matter has been pending for so long," the CJI further said.

Former law minister of India and senior counsel Kapil Sibal however expressed reservations and said that he may have to withdraw from one of the matters. The CJI shot back by saying, " you withdraw from all." The CJI said that all these matters were important and the special benches were ready to hear the matter even on Saturdays and Sundays.

The SC goes on a 90 day summer vacation every year. Ideally only four judges hear matters on the vacation bench. The Prime Minister of India had questioned this practise and said that there was a huge backlog of cases.

OneIndia News