Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud has expressed his strong reservation against the adjournment culture, stating that repeated requests for delays in proceedings leads to far-reaching implications on the efficiency and integrity of legal system.
Speaking during the All India District Judges Conference at Kutch in Gujarat, the CJI said that this culture of adjournments effectively suspended time within a case, prolonging the agony of litigants and perpetuating the cycle of backlog.
He said ithat in today’s times, common citizens felt that adjournment had become a part of the judicial system. Calling the perception as disheartening, he said the adjournments, which were never intended to be common place, have now become normalised within the judicial process.
Judges, therefore, have to be conscious of this fact, because while even one adjournment might look like a routine affair, it can have severe ramifications for the litigants, he noted.
The CJI gave example of a farmer entangled in a property dispute, saying that in case the outcome of this legal battle did not come to light during the farmer’s lifetime, the burden would fall upon their legal heirs, who may find themselves embroiled in protracted legal proceedings long after their loved one’s passing.
The judiciary should not wait for the citizens to die before their case was decided by a court of law.
Asking whether this could be termed as a clear violation of the citizen’s fundamental right to access justice, he said that the concept of access to justice should extend beyond mere access to the courts; it should also guarantee that citizens receive timely judgments from courts of law.
Speaking about the adjournment culture, he said that the concept of access to justice should extend beyond mere access to the courts; it should also guarantee that citizens receive timely judgments from courts of law.