Institute of Legal and Management Studies

The Supreme Court Advocates On Record Association, on May 14, wrote a letter to the newly appointed CJI, Justice Gavai, requesting the return of the letter circulation mechanism and for introducing courtrooms' hearing sequence in supplementary lists.

The SCAORA has urged the CJI to reinstate the traditional practice of circulating adjournment letters for the convenience of not just the advocates in personal urgency but also to save the time of the benches. It states :

"The long-standing practice of circulating adjournment letters in the Supreme Court was discontinued owing to the decision of the competent authority, which has caused severe impediment to the members of the Association over the past several months, who despite being indisposed owing to genuine causes, are unable to request the Hon'ble Court in advance. This practice, which allowed advocates to inform the Court of their unavailability due to personal or professional commitments, has been a valuable tool in ensuring the parties involved, and is requested to be reinstated with immediate effect efficient functioning of the Court while minimizing any inconvenience to."

"It is also pertinent to mention, that restoring the circulation of adjournment letters would enable advocates to promptly inform the Court when they are unable to appear, ensuring that cases are rescheduled in a timely manner, and reducing the risk of adjournments that could disrupt the Court's schedule and also burden the litigants with financial hardships to engage Senior Advocates for their matters, which ultimately might get adjourned, on account of unavoidable circumstances. Furthermore, such restoration of the earlier practice would allow the Court to manage its docket more efficiently and avoid inconveniencing other parties involved in the proceedings."

Prior Intimation Of Sequencing Of Matters In Supplementary List

The Association also emphasised that while different courtrooms are following different sequences for hearing matters, these sequences are only informed to counsels through the display board between 10:15 and 10:30 AM daily.

However, the SCAORA requests that it would be beneficial for everyone if the sequence of each courtroom is published in the Supplementary List or through a separate notice a day before the hearing of the matters. It reasoned that adopting the said suggestion would help the counsels come better prepared and efficiently assist the court.

It states : "On account of the display of the sequence series in the morning of the listing, there is very little reaction time for all the stakeholders, and this practice is not only disrupting the effective management of court appearances but is also contributing to a strained utilization of the Hon'ble Courts' time. The inability to attend hearings due to overlapping matters or the necessity to seek passes or adjournments is an unfortunate consequence, especially for those who may not be technologically adept."

The letter also congratulated Justice Gavai and expressed a "heartfelt welcome" as he assumed the office of CJI today.

Notably, former CJI, Justice Sanjiv Khanna in November 2024 made it clear that the old system of seeking adjournments by circulation of letters will not be reinstated.

In December 2023, the Supreme Court had temporarily prohibited the seeking of adjournments through letter circulation. Later, in February 2024, the Court notified a new procedure for letter circulation, as per which, letters for adjournment will not be entertained in certain categories of cases, and also fresh and regular hearing matters. As per the new protocol, the adjournment letters can only be circulated once.