Today, On 24th April, The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) urged the Supreme Court to scrap the 50% no-objection rule for listing cases during vacation. It said the rule forces advocates to stay in Delhi even if they have just one matter.
New Delhi: In a letter to the Supreme Court of India, the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) expressed significant concerns regarding a new rule that mandates more than 50% of advocates or parties on the opposing side to provide a “No Objection” for a case to be excluded from the listing during partial working days in 2025.
The SCBA has urged the court to eliminate this clause, deeming it “unreasonable” and inconvenient for many legal professionals.
Dated April 24, 2025, and labeled SCBA/Registry.31/2025, the letter was addressed to the Secretary General of the Supreme Court.
The subject line clearly stated,
“Removal of criteria of No Objection by more than 50% Advocates of Opposite Side in Para 3 in Partial Court Working Days List-2025.”
In the letter, the SCBA cited the newly established clause from Paragraph 3 of the Partial Court Working Days List-2025, which states,
“3. In respect of both miscellaneous matters and regular hearing matters contained in Annexures ‘A’ & ‘B’ respectively, the Advocates/parties-in-person, who do not wish to get their matters listed during partial Court working days are required to ‘decline’ on the provision made through AoR login in the e-filing module by 01.05.2025. However, only those matters will not be listed in which more than 50% Advocates/parties in person have ‘declined’ for listing of matter.”
The SCBA passionately opposed this clause, labeling it “unreasonable” and arguing that it “was introduced without application of mind by its author.”
The association noted that the rule disproportionately affects advocates who have only one matter listed during the partial court working days. If the opposing side fails to provide the requisite “No Objection,” these advocates would be compelled to remain in Delhi throughout the vacation period, waiting for their case to be heard.
The letter stated,
“If an Advocate has only one matter in the said list and the 50% Advocates on opposite side decline to give ‘No Objection’, then he has to spend whole vacation in Delhi waiting for its listing,”
The SCBA proposed a more practical and equitable solution, suggesting that individual advocates with personal difficulties or those who do not wish to have their matters listed during vacation should have the option to opt out independently.
The letter added,
“It is suggested that if any advocate has any personal difficulty regarding any matter, he may be permitted to get it deleted from the Partial Court Working Days List-2025,”
The letter was signed by Vikrant Yadav, the Honorary Secretary of the SCBA, who called on the Supreme Court administration to take prompt action and amend the listing rules accordingly.
This request comes as the SCBA is actively engaging with the Supreme Court Registry on various administrative reforms.
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The Bar has submitted a range of broader recommendations aimed at enhancing the listing and registry system, including notifying advocates of filing defects on the same day, eliminating the token system, and allowing urgent cases to be listed based on diary numbers.
An Open House is scheduled for April 29, 2025, where these concerns will be openly discussed between the Bar and the Registry.
The SCBA’s initiative highlights the ongoing challenges faced by lawyers during court vacations and the necessity for more efficient, advocate-friendly procedures in the nation’s highest court.
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