Updated on : 8 Feb, 2023, 6:53 pm
Bombay: Justice Gautam Patel of the Bombay High Court on Wednesday brought the focus back on the long working hours of judges, albeit in a humorous manner, when he refused to grant urgent hearing for a matter.
After hearing 16 matters at length, the Bench was about to rise for the day at 4:30 pm. At this point, a lawyer mentioned his matter which was listed on the board today. He sought listing of the matter tomorrow, citing urgency.
However, Justice Patel refused to grant circulation.
“No way we can keep this matter tomorrow. I will take action against you for violating human rights,” he said light-heartedly.
He spoke of how judges worked late into the evening after court working hours, preparing for matters listed on their boards the next day.
“I am short on sleep. I work 19 hours a day. We sit till late reading over 70 matters to prepare for the next date. Then there are corrections and judgments pending,” the judge said.
Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Supreme Court judge Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul had also recently highlighted the burden on judges in the higher judiciary.
Before he became CJI, Justice Chandrachud had said that hearings which go on beyond usual court hours ate into the judge’s time in chambers normally spent for research and writing judgments.
At the beginning of this year, Justice Kaul countered requests seeking that judges reduce their court vacations/breaks in order to tackle pendency before Indian courts.
“Nobody sees beyond those 4-5 hours in courts. We have to read for 7-8 hours before that, pen our judgments during the breaks,” the judge had said.
