New Delhi :The Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud Friday urged the lawyers to not seek adjournments in cases unless it is really necessary, saying cannot become a tareekh pe tareekh court while pointing at slips requesting adjournment of hearing in cases and cited 3,688 adjournments sought by lawyers in 2 months, September and October.
The CJI, before beginning the court proceedings, said he has been monitoring filing to first hearing of matters to ensure that the period is reduced to minimum. The Chief Justice said: “the figures speak for themselves; I don’t want this court to become tareekh pe tareekh court. How do we justify to the citizens …does not send a good image about our court. Bar should reflect and take corrective measures”.
The Chief Justice said "I have one request to members of the Bar for today there are 177 adjournment slips and I am keeping a track on adjournment slips and I have got some data." He said on an average per miscellaneous day from September 1 2023 to November 3, 2023, for each miscellaneous day 154 adjournment letters are circulated by members of the Bar. "In two months of miscellaneous days, September and October, 3688 adjournments slips have been sought, and my belief is that this really defeats the purpose of expediting the process from filing to listing”, said the Chief Justice.
The CJI said on one hand asking for matters to be listed immediately and then there are 3688 adjournment slips, and on the contrary, I find 2361 matters mentioned since September 1, 2023, which comprises nearly 15-20 percent freshly adjourned matters. “Per day from September 1 to November 3, on an average 59 matters are being mentioned everyday and ironically these the matters got adjourned by circulating adjournment slips…everybody is pressing for listing matters on expedited basis they come on board, they are mentioned and then they got adjourned”, said the Chief Justice.