In a compelling address to the legal community, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud made a fervent appeal to lawyers, urging them to curtail the common practice of seeking unnecessary adjournments, which has led to a backlog of cases and a delay in justice. His words carried the weight of a system in need of change:
“I don’t want this court to be a ‘tareekh-pe-tareekh’ court,”
he said, drawing from a culturally significant phrase that has come to represent the frustration with the Indian judiciary’s delays.
CJI Chandrachud’s statement was not just a reflection of personal sentiment but was backed by stark statistics that painted a picture of a judicial system bogged down by its own processes.
“There are 178 adjournment slips today. On an average per miscellaneous day from 1st September- 3rd September, 154 adjournments are circulated. 3688 adjournments in 2 months. This defeats the purpose of filing and listing,”
he highlighted, showcasing the sheer volume of adjournment requests that the court deals with regularly.
The Chief Justice pointed out the irony in the current state of affairs where cases that are urgently listed upon request are the very ones that are later adjourned.
“On the one hand, matters are mentioned by lawyers every day for urgent listing but on the other hand, they seek adjournment when cases are listed,”
he said, elucidating the contradiction in the lawyers’ actions.
He further detailed the frequency of such occurrences, saying,
“For November 3, we have 178 adjournment slips. For each miscellaneous day since October, 150 adjournment slips were there on each day and from September to October, there was 3,688 adjournment slips were circulated. This defeats the very purpose of expediting the case.”
CJI Chandrachud also highlighted the discrepancy in the number of cases mentioned for urgent listing and the number of adjournments sought.
“From September to November 1, fifty-eight matters are mentioned every day. Matters are mentioned for being expedited but on the other hand, adjournment is sought,”
he remarked, pointing out the inconsistency between the urgency to list and the readiness to proceed.
In his address, CJI Chandrachud also compared the Supreme Court’s adjournment process with that of the High Courts, noting the ease with which adjournments could be obtained in the apex court. He said,
“In the Supreme Court, lawyers could seek adjournments by circulating a letter, whereas in High Courts, adjournment request has to be made before the judge when the matter comes up and the grant of the request is subject to the judge’s discretion.”
The Chief Justice’s use of the term ‘tareekh pe tareekh’—a phrase popularized by the 1993 Hindi film ‘Damini’—was particularly poignant, as it encapsulated the collective frustration with the legal system’s procrastination. His call to action was clear: to prevent the Supreme Court from becoming synonymous with delays and to maintain the public’s trust in the judiciary’s ability to deliver timely justice.