Bombay High Court Introduces Auto-Listing Of Fresh Matters On Trial Basis

According to the notice, freshly filed matters will be automatically listed for hearing in a supplementary cause list before specific judges on a trial basis. Mentioning these matters before the concerned benches will be permitted only in cases of exceptional urgency that justifies listing earlier than the auto-listing schedule.

The new protocol will be initially applicable to 2 Division Benches and 3 Single Judge Benches at the principal seat of Bombay High Court. The first Division Bench includes Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Arif S Doctor, handling public interest litigations, arbitration appeals, appeals under Section 13 of the Commercial Courts Act, and cases related to the infrastructure of the principal seat of the Court. The second Division Bench comprises Justices GS Patel and Kamal Khata, dealing with writ petitions involving municipal corporations, election petitions, and others.

The three Single Judge benches included in this auto-listing protocol are Justice MS Karnik for bail applications filed in 2023, Justice NJ Jamadar for anticipatory bail applications, and Justice GA Sanap for bail applications filed up to the year 2022.

Auto-listing of cases before the Division Benches will take place 1 week after the final numbering of freshly filed matters, while for the Single Judges, it will be 3 days after the final numbering. Final numbering signifies the point at which all objections or defects highlighted by the court Registry in the petition have been satisfactorily resolved.

Until now, parties could approach the respective benches and request urgent listings. The notice emphasized that freshly filed matters that are auto-listed should not be mentioned before the concerned judges unless exceptional urgency justifies an earlier listing.

The notice also states that this protocol is proposed to be extended to all other benches of the High Court in due course.