Questions have always been raised regarding the long summer vacations given to the judges of the Supreme Court. Now by making changes, long holidays have been converted into partial holidays. In the notification issued by the Supreme Court, it has been said that the number of holidays should not exceed 90 days, which do not include Sundays. Earlier this number was 103. Chief Justice D.Y. Under the leadership of Chandrachud, the rules have been amended and notified.
The Supreme Court’s move to designate its traditional summer holidays as partial court working days comes after the government sent recommendations of a parliamentary committee on separate holidays for judges to the court secretary general and registrars general of 25 high courts for consideration. Sent.
The change made by the Supreme Court is important in view of the criticism from various quarters that judges get long leave. The development was a part of the amendment to the Supreme Court Rules, 2013, which has now become the Supreme Court (Second Amendment) Rules, 2024, notified on November 5.
The notification said, ‘The duration of partial court working days and the number of holidays for court-related offices shall be such as may be decided by the Chief Justice and notified in the Official Gazette. It should not exceed ninety days excluding Sundays.
According to the calendar of 2025, partial court working days will start from 26 May 2025 till 14 July 2025. Also the word Vacation Judge has been replaced with Judge. Till now, there is a summer vacation of more than seven weeks in the Supreme Court every year during May-July and during this time there are 2 to 3 vacation benches in which the judges hold hearings. Similarly, judges have winter holidays in December also.
Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal had informed the Lok Sabha in early August that the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law and Personnel had mentioned former Chief Justice of India R M Lodha’s suggestion that all judges go on leave at the same time. Instead of going on leave, different judges should go on leave at different times.
He said that the committee recommends that judges should take their leave at different times of the year so that the courts remain open continuously and they are always present to hear the cases. The committee was of the opinion that the judiciary should consider Justice Lodha’s suggestion on court holidays.