No Supreme Court Bench during winter vacation: CJI DY Chandrachud

New Delhi, December 16

Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on Friday said no Supreme Court Bench would be available from December 17 till January 1 during the ensuing winter vacations.

“There will be no Benches available from tomorrow till January 1,” CJI Chandrachud told the lawyers present in his court this morning.

Friday is the last working day in the Supreme Court before it goes on a two-week winter break. The top court will reopen on January 2 next year.

The CJI’s announcement came a day after Law Minister Kiren Rijiju told the Rajya Sabha on Thursday that there was a feeling among the people that long court vacations were not very convenient for justice seekers.

The issue regarding court vacations has been raised earlier also but judges, including the then CJI NV Ramana, had said there was a misconception that judges stayed in ultimate comfort and enjoyed their holidays. They spent sleepless nights rethinking their decisions, he had said.

“There exists a misconception in the minds of the people that judges stay in ultimate comfort, work only from 10 am to 4 pm and enjoy their holidays. Such a narrative is untrue… when false narratives are created about the supposed easy life led by judges, it is difficult to swallow,” Justice Ramana had said while delivering the inaugural Justice SB Sinha Memorial Lecture on ‘Life of a Judge’ in Ranchi in July this year.