Institute of Legal and Management Studies

The Supreme Court on Monday (May 19) issued a circular modifying its earlier restrictions on the circulation of adjournment letters. It is significant to note that the relaxation came after the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association made a request before Chief Justice of India BR Gavai last week.

In modification of its earlier circular issued on February 14, 2024, the new circular states :

1) Letters for adjournment of cases listed before the Hon'ble Courts are permitted to be circulated by the Advocates-on-Record/Parties-in-Person in all cases except fixed date/mentioned matters, till 11:00 a.m., on the previous working day.

2) Such letters for adjournment shall be entertained only after obtaining consent of the Advocates/Parties-in-Person appearing on the other side. Unless such prior consent/no objection of the Advocates/Parties-in-Person appearing on the other side/Caveator is obtained, the same would not be considered.

3) Specific reason for seeking adjournment and number of adjournments already sought shall be mentioned.

4) Adjournment of the case would be considered only in case of bereavement in the family or medical/health condition of the Advocate/Party-in-Person or such other genuine reason to the satisfaction of the Hon'ble Court.

5) Request for adjournment of case shall be submitted in the prescribed format as per Annexure 'A' through e-mail: [email protected] .

As per the earlier circular, the adjournment letter could have been circulated only once. Also, in certain specified matters - bail, suspension of sentence, where interim order has been granted in favour of the party seeking adjournment etc - adjournment letter could not have been circulated. Circulating adjournment letters in fresh and regular hearing matters was also prohibited.

However, as per the new circular, the only restriction is for fixed date and matters mentioned.

Soon after CJI Gavai took oath as the Chief Justice of India, the SCAORA, through its Honorary Secretary Nikhil Jain, requested him to restore the adjournment letter circulation. The other request of the SCAORA was to notify the hearing sequence in the causelist itsef.

Click here to read the circular