CJI Irked Over Lawyers Seeking Urgent Listing Of Ordinary Cases

The Supreme Court Friday expressed displeasure over lawyers not following proper procedure for mentioning the matters and often dubbing ordinary cases as urgent requiring early listing leading to the wastage of time.

The apex court said it was the need of the hour to tell the Bar that system of mentioning the matter was not working well as requests were being made for urgent listing of every sort of matter.

A Bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice S K Kaul said that when files are perused what is sought during mentioning is different from the prayers made in the written records.

Justice Gogoi said lawyers make submissions that the matter in hand is serious and requires urgent listing, but "when we go through the files we find there is no urgency".

The bench said: "We must tell the Bar that we go through the memo and files and after reading it for 15-30 minutes we find that nothing is there. The Chief Justice of India has to spend time to see all these memos to find what needs to be listed urgently and what not to.

"Your case has to be listed ahead at the cost of others. But there is no information why it has to be listed urgently."

It gave an example of the matter in which mention was made for urgent hearing and after listing it for today "we do not find anything urgent".

The CJI said: "How the system will survive. We are requesting the Bar to give some very serious thought to this problem

"I had made it clear on day one (when Gogoi took over as the CJI) that mentioning for urgent listing could be done in matters in which personal liberty and life is at stake, some demolition is likely to take place or something on which we cannot wait."

The bench expressed its anguish when a lawyer mentioned the matter relating to Kerala judicial service for urgent listing.

"We are not inclined to grant you urgent listing. You can go and mention before the Registrar," the bench said.

Later, during the regular hearing, the bench took umbrage at a lawyer seeking passover of his matter which he had mentioned Thursday for urgent listing.

"You made yesterday a mentioning for urgent hearing and when the matter is called up you are seeking passover," the bench said. 

(This story has not been edited by LiveLaw and is from PTI feed)