Delhi High Court Witness Late Night Hearing Till 11 In The Night
The Delhi High Court yesterday once again witnessed hearings extending up to late night in its sitting during the summer vacations, with two single Judges sitting way beyond regular working hours.
Justice Jasmeet Singh and Justice Vikas Mahajan continued to hold their courts late in the night to hear urgent cases. Justice Mahajan's bench concluded at 10:57 pm, while Justice Singh's bench presided till 10:20 pm. This was the second day of late-night hearings this week, following the late night sitting that happened on Monday.
As per the main cause list of the Delhi High Court for June 14, the Division Bench of Justice Jasmeet Singh and Justice Vikas Mahajan had a total of 32 fresh matters and applications listed before them. In addition, Justice Singh's single bench had 60 matters while Justice Mahajan's single bench had 56 matters listed before them.
During the late-night hearing, an Advocate appearing in a bail matter requested a Dasti Copy of the order being dictated. Justice Mahajan remarked that it would not be possible for the Court master to provide it immediately. Justice Mahajan said that even if the seal of the Court had to be affixed, it would require more time and advised the Advocate to orally apprise the Magistrate concerned of the order passed.
According to the data from the Virtual Justice Clock of the Delhi High Court, a total of 2,549 cases, including civil and criminal matters on the Appellate Side, were instituted in the High Court in the month of June alone. Additionally, 331 matters were filed on the Original Side.
Recently, on June 12, 2023, the Single Judge Bench of Justice M. Nagaprasanna of the Karnataka High Court took up all 522 cases listed before the Court till 5 pm. However, it was a regular bench since the summer vacation of the Karnataka High Court is already over. The Judge considered all the matters which were listed in the Cause List after commencing the sitting at its usual time of 10:30 am. On September 30, last year, the day before the Supreme Court was to commence its Dussehra vacation, the Bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud sat till 9 pm to call out all cases on the board.
Recently, the Kerala High Court dismissed a Writ Petition alleging that a Judge of the Kerala High Court limits the Cause List before the Court to only 20 cases per day. The plea alleged that a "backlog of cases has broken the back of the Judiciary and if every Judge decides to hear only 20 matters a day, then the Institution itself will not survive". The High Court while dismissing the plea held that the Judge has the discretion to issue special or general directions regarding the posting of cases assigned to the Judge by the Chief Justice.
