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 vacations.
The CJI's announcement made in the apex court assumes
significance in the wake of Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju's 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 seekers.
"There will be no benches available from tomorrow
till January 1," Justice Chandrachud informed the lawyers present in the
courtroom at the outset.
Friday is the last working day of the top court before
it goes on a two-week winter break. The apex court will reopen on January 2.
The 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 holidays.
Delivering 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 decisions.
"There 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 said.
Justice Ramana had said the responsibility of judging
is extremely burdensome owing to the human implication of the rulings.
"We 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 said.
Similarly, 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
change".
"It 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 year.
Rijiju informed Parliament on Thursday that as on
December 9, against the sanctioned strength of 1,108 judges, 777 were working
in the 25 high courts, leaving a vacancy of 331 (30 per cent).
"Against 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 Sabha.
Further recommendations from high court collegiums are
yet to be received in respect of 184 vacancies, the minister pointed out.
Rijiju 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 far".
Of 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
quarters.
Rijiju had on November 25 launched a fresh attack,
saying the collegium system is "alien" to the Constitution.
On 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 well-taken".