Delhi High Court directs District Court Judges for 'mandatory prior intimation' on leave

In a bid towards people-friendly administration of court systems, Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court (HC) on Friday directed Delhi District Court Judges to report about their leave appeals at least one day in advance to their concerned District and Session judge. The HC Chief Justice also ordered to update the same on the Delhi District Court's website with immediate effect. 

The order further stressed that in a situation of any hardship or an unexpected crisis, when leave is applied at the last moment, an intimation by or through the concerned judicial officer should be sent promptly using electronic means. The order was necessitated so that the intimation is received at the office of the Principal District and Session Judges before 10 am for it will enable intimation to all concerned after the absence will be uploaded on the Delhi District Court's website.

PIL seeks replication of HC structure in District Courts

The Delhi HC notice was issued pursuant to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) Writ Petition (Civil) was filed by a Delhi-based Advocate V. Register General, Delhi High Court Amish Aggarwala. The plea sought the directions of the court for "prior intimation of leave by judicial officers intending to take leave, as is done by the judges of the High Court".

The Division Bench said that necessary direction would be passed on the official site.

Plea laments people's incognizance to absence of judges

The petition asserted that the absence or leave of a judicial officer is never informed in advance to the public. It spotlighted that there is a dedicated "judges on Leave" section on the Delhi Districts Courts website but rued that it updates the segment only on the concerned day itself, and in the meantime, thousands of people struggle to reach the court in time, consuming countless hours in preparing cases prior hand.

The Delhi HC direction is a welcome step towards better management of court systems in Delhi, said petitioner Amish Aggarwala, who has been practising law in Delhi for the past eight years.

(Inputs: ANI)

(Image: ANI/REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE)