On Thursday i.e. 7th May 2020, the Chhattisgarh High Court issued an order to cancel the summer vacation for the High Court and the other Sub-ordinates Courts.
The decision taken by the Chhattisgarh High Court is to compensate all the work loss of the Courts due to the lockdown.
The order stated that the High Court has decided to dispense with the Summer Vacation from 18th May 2020 to 12th June 2020. It also stated that except for the holidays already declared, the rest of the days during this period shall be treated as working days.
Likewise, Chhattisgarh High Court, other High Courts and Sub-ordinates Courts of the Country have resolved to cancel the Summer Vacation.
Previously announced by the respective Courts, only extreme urgent cases will be taken into consideration.
Court’s Vacation
How much of vacation do our judges need? This question generally arises when we think of all the delayed and end number of pending cases in our courts.
On average, the Supreme Court functions 193 days, High Court 210 days and other Sub-ordinates Courts works 245 days. Courts are further closed on special occasions like Holi, Dussehra, Pongal, etc depending on the state.
Despite these holidays, courts are closed for considerable periods during the Summer i.e. in the month of June.
Arguments against long breaks
Many people strongly oppose the practice of long court vacations, particularly in summer. They believe that long court vacation is a colonial practice and should be stopped. Since we no longer have English Judges who need to visit their homeland for a long period.
The people who oppose this practise also focuses more on the pending severe matters or cases. They think that the courts should work for a long hour to meet the needs of the country.
This argument makes complete sense when we compare the courts with other institutions. The judiciary cannot be made to view the holiday as an entitlement when the system has become dysfunctional.
Argument favour long breaks
No doubt, case reading and its analysis is a tough task and can take a long time. Those in favour always continued to do the same because according to the judges are always overburdened.
Judges always overloaded with their works and work extremely for a long hour. Sub-ordinates Courts Judges works 6 days a week, unlike the High Court and Supreme Court Judges who work for five days a week.
Judges spend evening, nights, weekend in reading files, writing orders and reading other judgements.
Court’s Decision
In view, there is no specific reason why the Judiciary should continue to take a long vacation. Judges are no different from other professions when it comes to hard work.
Though, it is equally important for Judges to decide with a clean and relaxed mind. Taking these long breaks not help the system in disposing cases. So, even if the vacation granted to the Courts, it should not be done en masse.
We need to evolve a practice where the courts will function throughout the year. But individual judges will get the time off to ensure they will not suffer burnout.
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