NEW DELHI, Dec 27: A committee of judges appointed by the Supreme Court is tasked with creating a standard operating procedure (SOP) that attorneys can use to request an adjournment of proceedings. The panel has asked the Bar and other interested parties for their suggestions on the matter. This came about as a result of concerns expressed by the Supreme Court Advocate on Record Association and the Supreme Court Bar Association regarding circulars the top court sent out regarding ending the distribution of adjournment slips.On December 5 and 22, the supreme court published two circulars requesting that the practice be discontinued. “All stakeholders are hereby notified that the practice of circulating adjournment slips/letters is discontinued with immediate effect until December 15, 2023, in order to accommodate the request of listing the maximum number of cases in the interest of litigants and in view of the ensuing winter vacation.” The December 5 circular had stated, “If there is any real difficulty, a request for adjournment can be made before the Court concerned.”“In light of the request of SCBA and SCAORA with regard to continuation of circulation of adjournments slips, the Competent Authority has been pleased to constitute a Committee of Hon’ble Judges for preparing a Standard Operating Procedure after inviting suggestions of the Bar & all stakeholders and for working further modalities,” the top court said in a circular on December 22 in response to several bar bodies voicing their concerns. It stated that the distribution of adjournment slips has been suspended until further notice.By January 2, 2024, the Supreme Court Bar Association would like all of its members to submit their ideas for acceptable reasons to request adjournments. In a previous statement, Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud urged attorneys not to ask for adjournments in new cases, stating that he did not want the Supreme Court to turn into a “tarikh-pe-tarikh” court because doing so undermines public confidence.
