Today, On 19th December, Chief Justice of India Surya Kant announced a special Supreme Court vacation sitting on December 22 to hear genuinely urgent cases as the winter recess begins. He said judges worked all night on briefs and declined fresh listings.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court will convene for a special vacation session on December 22 to address urgent cases, Chief Justice of India Surya Kant announced , marking the start of the court’s winter break.
He specified that the decision on whether to have one or multiple benches on December 22 would depend on the genuine urgency of the cases submitted.
Regular court proceedings will resume on January 5, 2025. This announcement came during oral mentions by lawyers on the last working day before the winter recess.
The Chief Justice emphasized that no new cases would be accepted for hearing that Friday, citing the significant workload already facing the judges.
Denying requests for same-day listings, the CJI stated,
“There has been massive filing this week. The hon’ble judges have spent the entire night reading briefs. I am not going to ask them to read a new brief today,”
When a lawyer pressed for urgent consideration, the CJI responded directly, inquiring if those requesting listings were prepared to defend their cases during the break.
He said,
“All those who are in the queue seeking listing, will you argue on Monday? We are ready to sit on Monday,”
Highlighting that urgency would be thoroughly evaluated, the Chief Justice asserted that cases would only be listed on December 22 if the lawyers were willing to present their arguments that day.
He instructed the Bar,
“Wherever you give an urgent memo, we will find out if there is an actual urgency and list on Monday. The only condition is that you will have to argue on Monday,”
Regarding cases involving child custody disputes, bail applications, and requests for protection from arrest, the CJI noted that the Registry would first determine if there was genuine urgency.
Indicating that the number of benches would be decided based on the volume of such cases, he remarked,
“If it is found that there is genuine urgency, interim bail or custody issue, then we will list the matter on December 22,”
The Chief Justice also reflected on comments made the day before, on December 18, when he hinted at the possibility of a vacation sitting.
He had stated during oral mentions,
“If you are willing to come on Monday, December 22, I will persuade one of the Judges to sit with me during the Winter Vacation,”
In the proceedings on Friday, the CJI reiterated that cases could not be listed the very next day, urging lawyers to submit urgency letters alongside an undertaking to argue if their cases were scheduled during the vacation.
The Court observed that while the official winter vacation begins on Friday, December 19, urgent matters would still be considered during the break.
However, after briefly reviewing several cases mentioned for urgent listing on December 18, the Bench noted that many did not demonstrate any pressing urgency.
Signalling a stringent stance against routine mentions being disguised as urgent pleas, the Court remarked,
“These matters can wait till January or even April 2026,”
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