Listing of cases my first priority, keeping close watch on it: CJI

Chief Justice of India Justice D Y Chandrachud Tuesday said he is “keeping a close watch on the listing of cases” to ensure that all fresh matters come up for hearing without delay.

The CJI told a lawyer who sought urgent listing of a matter: “I tell my registrar every morning, I am keeping a close watch on listing, my first priority. Anything which is registered by Saturday, Monday and Tuesday, make sure it’s listed next Monday and cases registered on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday by next Friday.”

The CJI said he is also “keeping a close tab on how many matters are being verified by the Registry on the removal of defects”.

Speaking at a felicitation ceremony organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association Monday, the CJI had flagged listing of cases as a “real problem” in the Supreme Court. He had said that the court is trying to do away with the human interface with the help of technology.

Pointing out that significant efforts were made during former CJI U U Lalit’s tenure to address concerns about listing, he said the process should be institutionalised so that it continues uninterrupted.

“Justice Lalit has taken very concrete steps towards making a more transparent system. I propose to continue that and build on the work which has been done by Justice Lalit. We need to make the listing of our court transparent, objective and perhaps my aim is to employ technology so as to remove the element of the human interface in the listing process because all discretion tends to become a discretion which is capable of not being employed properly,” he said Monday.

He added: “The court has already started working on it and we are trying to prepare SOPs so that it should not depend on who is the Chief Justice. It’s important that we institutionalise these processes..It must be a part of an institutional mechanism.”

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