LI Network
Published on: November 03, 2023 at 19:35 IST
Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud expressed his fervent desire for the court not to become a ‘tareekh-pe-tareekh’ court, referencing the ironic practice of lawyers seeking adjournments for cases they had urgently requested to be listed.
This statement was made on November 3, 2023, and the CJI urged members of the legal community to exercise caution and refrain from requesting adjournments unless absolutely essential.
CJI Chandrachud underscored the inefficiency and counterproductive nature of excessive adjournment requests, supported by revealing statistics. During his address, he disclosed that there had been 178 adjournment requests on that particular day, with an average of 154 adjournments per miscellaneous day between September 1 and September 3. Over a span of two months, this totaled 3,688 adjournments. Such a high number of adjournments, he emphasized, defeated the very purpose of filing and listing cases promptly.
To emphasize the contradiction inherent in this practice, CJI Chandrachud noted that since September 2023, there had been 2,361 cases urgently listed in the court, averaging 59 cases daily.
This paradoxical situation involved cases being rapidly listed and then subsequently adjourned, leading to prolonged delays in the judicial process.
The CJI passionately urged members of the legal community to reserve adjournment requests for situations where they are absolutely indispensable, as the credibility and public trust in the court were at stake. He remarked, “This cannot become a tareek pe tareek court.”
CJI Chandrachud also highlighted the difference in adjournment procedures between the Supreme Court and High Courts. In the Supreme Court, lawyers can request adjournments by submitting a letter, while in High Courts, such requests must be made in person before the judge, subject to the judge’s discretion.
The term ‘tareekh pe tareekh‘ gained popularity from an iconic dialogue delivered by Sunny Deol in the 1993 Hindi film ‘Damini,’ where he expressed frustration at the recurring adjournments in a case. This phrase has since become emblematic of the extended delays often associated with the Indian justice system.