‘Vacate vacations’ for judiciary, demands Sushil Modi

He said that the system of vacations in the judiciary was a tradition rooted in British colonialism carried on even now

Sushil Kumar Modi stated that courts remained shut for around 47 days in the summer and around 20 days during winter while all other public offices remained functional all year round. File | Photo Credit: K.R. Deepak

BJP MP in the Rajya Sabha Sushil Kumar Modi on Wednesday demanded that judicial “vacations be vacated” as a measure to bring down high pendency of cases in courts.

He was speaking on the New Delhi International Arbitration Centre (Amendment) Bill, 2022, when he made the demand. The Bill was cleared by the Rajya Sabha thereafter.

He stated that courts remained shut for around 47 days in the summer and around 20 days during winter while all other public offices remained functional all year round. He also termed the system of vacations in the judiciary as a tradition rooted in British colonialism carried on even now.

While subordinate and criminal courts do not have designated vacations, the top courts including Supreme Court and High Courts have institutionalised this privilege. Further, former CJI Lodha in 2014 had also sought to eliminate the system of vacations, he said.

To this effect, he urged government to vacate the vacations in judiciary and put in place a system of annual leaves like in other public offices and organisations.