'Vacation' Renamed As 'Partial Court Working Days' : Supreme Court Amends Rules

The Supreme Court has amended its rules to substitute the term 'summer vacation/vacation' with 'partial court working days'. The amended rules were notified on November 5, in the last working week of outgoing Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud.

The length of the partial Court working days and the number of holidays for the Court and the offices of the Court shall be such as may be fixed by the Chief Justice and notified in the Official Gazette so as not to exceed ninety-five days excluding Sundays. Earlier, this number was 103.

As per the recently published Supreme Court calendar for 2025, "partial Court working days" will commence from 26 May 2025 till 14 July 2025.

The term "Vacation Judge" has been replaced with "Judge." The Supreme Court annually has a summer break not exceeding seven weeks during May-July. Designated judges hold sittings during vacations.

Court vacations have sparked significant debate, with some critics questioning the practice amidst mounting case backlogs. However, many Chief Justices and Judges, including CJI DY Chandrachud, have countered the perception that Judges are idle during these breaks, emphasizing that vacations are often used to write pending judgments.

Recently, CJI Chandrachud suggested a re-evaluation of court vacation policies, proposing alternatives such as flexible schedules for judges and lawyers, rather than the current system of collective breaks.

Click here to read the amended rules

Also Read - Courts Are Closed But Is Justice On Leave? Revisiting The Debate On Judicial Vacations