Centre Has "No Role" In Fixing Minimum Working Days For Courts: Minister

There is no proposal at present to increase the number of working days or working hours of the Supreme Court, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said on Thursday.

The central government has no role in fixing the minimum number of compulsory working hours and working days for courts, the minister said.

In a written reply in Rajya Sabha, he said the top court has been working on an average of 222 days in a year.

"The number of working hours, working days and vacations of the courts are prescribed as per rules framed by the respective courts. The Supreme Court of India, in exercise of the powers conferred on it under Article 145 of the Constitution of India, makes rules for regulating the court's practice and procedures which includes its sittings and vacations...," he said.

Accordingly, he noted, that the Supreme Court has framed the 'Supreme Court Rules, 2013' which were notified in 2014.

He said the rules provide that the period of summer vacation shall not exceed seven weeks and the length of the summer vacation and the number of holidays for the court and the offices of the court shall be such as may be fixed by the Chief Justice so as not to exceed 103 days, excluding Sundays not falling in the vacation and during court holidays.

"The central government has no role in fixing the minimum number of compulsory working hours and working days for courts. Further, there is no proposal at present to increase the number of working days or working hours of the Supreme Court," he said.

The minister asserted that the government is fully committed to the independence of judiciary and constantly endeavours to provide a conducive environment for judges to discharge their judicial functions smoothly.

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