There will be ten transfer and ten bail petitions heard by every Supreme Court bench on a daily basis: Chief Justice

The Supreme Court will hear 10 transfer petitions and 10 bail applications daily, according to Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud.

In mentioning hours, the Chief Justice informed lawyers that a decision to this effect had been reached at a full court meeting. Therefore, all transfer petitions pending before the Supreme Court will be resolved before the winter recess begins on December 17.

All Bar members should be aware that approximately 3,000 transfer petitions are pending. As a result of a full-court meeting with my colleagues, we have all agreed to take up 10 transfer petitions on each bench daily. At present, we are running 13 benches. Therefore, we will dispose of approximately 130 (matters) per day or 650 per week. So, in the five weeks before our winter vacation, all transfer petitions will be completed,” he stated.

Following the transfer petitions, CJI Chandrachud stated that all benches would examine ten bail matters since they involve personal liberty issues. Furthermore, I have instructed that bail matters will be given priority. Therefore, ten bail matters must be dealt with every day after transfer petitions since this is a matter of personal liberty. The first ten transfer petitions are family matters, followed by the ten bail petitions across all benches. Then we will start the regular work.”

The Chief Justice of India had stated on November 15 that he was “keeping a close watch on the listing of cases” so that all new cases are heard as soon as possible.

He is “also keeping a close watch on how many matters are being verified by the Registry for removal of defects”.

CJI had stated a day before that, at a felicitation event organized by the Supreme Court Bar Association, that “listing (of cases) has been a real problem” at the Supreme Court and that technology is being utilized to eliminate the need for human interface.

In addition to stating that significant efforts had been made during the tenure of former CJI U U Lalit to address concerns about listing, he urged that the process be institutionalized to ensure its continuity.