Delhi High Court Passes Directions Regarding Advance Intimation Of Leave By District Court Judges, Immediate Updation On Website

The Delhi High Court on Friday issued a notification regarding advance intimation of leave by judges of all the District Courts and immediate updation of its status on the website.

According to a notification issued by the Registrar General of the High Court, all the Principal District & Sessions are directed by the Chief Justice of the High Court to issue fresh circular and take necessary action in the matter.

"Intimation of leave be sent by all the Judicial Officers to the office of Principal District & Sessions Judge, at least one day in advance, and the concerned Branch be directed to update the status thereof on Delhi District Courts website immediately," the notification reads.

It has been further directed that in case of any hardship or unforeseen exigency when any leave is applied at last moment, intimation through the concerned Judicial Officer must be sent promptly, using electronic means, so that the same is received in the office of Principal District & Sessions Judge before 10:00 AM, enabling the uploading of the same forthwith on the website.

Further direction has also been issued to Principal District & Sessions Judges for maintaining a Register in the respective offices containing following fields:

- Name of the Judicial Officer, Date for which leave is sought

- Date and time of receiving the leave application in the office

- Date and time of uploading the intimation on the website. 

This comes pursuant to a public interest litigation filed by Advocate Amish Aggarwala in 2019 seeking a direction that timely notice of the leaven taken by judges of the courts of Delhi Judicial Service may be intimated to the public.

"The above members of the public travel through arduous means of transportation, spend hours in commute, only to find, among other obstacles of the system, that the Ld. Judicial Officer is on leave. A few hours later, but certainly not before 11 a.m., if the Judges on Leave section is checked again, the name of the Ld. Judicial Officer then appears on the list," the plea reads.