The Supreme Court of India and all subordinate courts take two long vacations every year. Summer and winter, but they are not technically enjoying these vacations. A special bench constituted by the Chief Justice of India called a ‘vacation bench’ actively functions during the vacation period in the Supreme Court. Likewise, the High courts and trial courts also witness their own vacation benches for urgent matters.
The partial functioning of the vacation bench does not work in full swing but only entertains urgent matters categorised as:
- Cases in which the death penalty has been pronounced.
- Habeas corpus petitions and those relating to apprehensions of the demolition of property.
- Dispossession and eviction.
- Issues of “general public importance”, comprising of issues related to post-poll developments including the counting or government formation.
- Anticipatory bail and normal bails.
- Cases where the jail term ranges from one year to life imprisonment.
- Service matters relating to transfers and dismissals.
Along with the above list of categories of matters to be entertained by the vacation bench, the Supreme Court also issues guidelines and norms to be followed. Read as:
- Affidavit and all material facts stating the purpose of urgency,
- Nature of the matter comprised in the material facts and particulars,
- The date of the impugned order (if any),
- The reason for filing it in vacation court and not before,
- The latest date on which the matter can be heard in view of the indicated urgency, and
- The nature of the interim order sought.
This year marks itself as a historic one in respect of special benches and makes it more important in the Supreme Court as it will be led by the CJI. Vacation court always consists of judges excluding the senior most five judges and the CJI. But this year for the very first time, CJI Ranjan Gogoi is presiding on the vacation bench of the Supreme Court from May 25th to May 30th.
The major reasons for this are noted to be the post-poll developments and issues related to voting and government formation (if any arise) after recent Lok Sabha elections.
Following is the list of some of the landmark judgements given by the Hon’ble Supreme Court while the vacation court was in action:
- Indira Gandhi v/s Raj Narain case, 1975
- NJAC, 99th Amendment, 2015
- Whatsapp Privacy case, 2017
- Triple Talaq case, 2017
- Bangladeshi Infiltrators case, 2017
- Karnataka assembly results case, 2018
So, technically there’s no vacation for Indian judiciary even during the so-called vacation period. The Judiciary has even been active at night and the legal fraternity and Indian judiciary work together day and night to maintain peace and order in society.
P.S. – I have diligently tried to cover all major aspects of the concerned topic in the article. Please drop in the comment section any additional information you possess regarding the above article for the general knowledge of all.