CJI Sanjiv Khanna Rules Out Going Back To Old System Of Adjournment Letters' Circulation

Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna on Tuesday (November 26) made it clear that the old system of seeking adjournments by circulation of letters will not be reinstated.

Speaking at the Constitution Day Function organized by the Supreme Court Bar Association, CJI Khanna highlighted that at one point, there were nearly one thousand adjournment letters which were circulated on daily basis. However, as per the new system, the numbers have come down to nearly 150 adjournment letters per month. Therefore, the CJI said that going back to the previous system was "counter-productive."

In December last year, the Supreme Court had temporarily prohibited the seeking of adjournments through letter circulation. Later, in February this year, 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.

After Justice Khanna became the CJI, members of the bar requested him to allow the circulation of letters of adjournment. Today, the CJI clarified that the request has not been approved.

"I have one request to make. And I hope it will be taken in the right spirit. I have been repeatedly getting requests for re-circulation of adjournment letters. I have looked into the data. The data shows there were about 9000-10,000 applications or letters for adjournment circulated in three months, which is more than 1000 adjournment letters per day. So it is not going to be possible for us to go back to the earlier system. Whatever system we have now adopted, if you come up with suggestions for improvement, we can look into it.  But going back to the earlier system may be counterproductive. We have received about 1400 odd applications in the new system in the last 11 months. You can see the difference. From 100 applications a day to 150 applications a month. That is a huge change. Let us therefore go with the right spirit. Today is a day for us to introspect, to look into our strong points and our weaknesses," CJI said.

CJI also said the request made by the bar for the publication of physical cause lists has been accepted. Further, he spoke about the plans to improve the infrastructural facilities for lawyers, such as an additional conference room, extra cabins for oath commissioners, extra photocopy facilities etc. CJI said that the Wi-Fi speed has been improved with the installation of additional routers and the same has been expanded to the ladies' bar room as well.

In his address, CJI highlighted the importance of the contribution of lawyers in making the judiciary a robust guardian of the Constitution. "Better the bar, better the judges," CJI said.