Rijiju And MPs Take Digs At Courts, Target Frivolous PILs And Pendency Of Cases

In a series of ongoing exchange of remarks by the Judiciary and the Executive, the Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said that a constitutional body like the Supreme Court should not be hearing "bail applications and frivolous PILs" at a time when the pendency of cases is so high.

He also said that SC vacations are a colonial legacy of the past and must come to an end.

Rijiju made these remarks yesterday while speaking on the India International Arbitration Centre Bill 2022 in the Rajya Sabha.

While the discussions on the above Bill were going on, BJP MP Sushil Kumar Modi also brought up the issue of pendency of cases in the courts.

He pointed out that constitutional courts remain shut for around 47 days in the summer and 20 days during the winter, even as other public offices function throughout the year.

While discussing the state of arbitration in the country, Modi said, "Some may say that judges on vacation still do their work, but we know how much work is done by vacation benches".

"Even the subordinate courts do not have any kind of vacation... Chief Justice Chandrachud refused to take any vacation when at Allahabad High Court, he is now the Chief Justice of the SC", Modi pointed out.

"I request to vacate the vacations," Modi ended while requesting the government to institute a system of annual leave prevalent in other public offices of the country.

It is important to note that the Supreme Court currently works only 193 days in a year, while the high courts work for 210 days and trial courts for 245 days a year.

In a PIL filed in 2018, it was noted that even the Supreme Court rules specify that there has to be a minimum of 225 working days in a year.