(a) whether the Government plans to discontinue the system of summer and winter vacations in the courts;
(b) if so, the details thereof; and
(c) the efforts made by the Government to remove that mentality in courts which is continuing since British period so that democratic system can be evolved in courts and the outcome thereof?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE FOR LAW AND JUSTICE & ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
(SHRI P.P. CHAUDHARY)
(a) to (c) : The duration of vacations is governed by the Rules/Regulations framed by the concerned High Courts and the Supreme Court. The vacation/working days/working hours in the District /Subordinate Courts are regulated by the respective High Court and the Government has no role in it.
The Supreme Court has notified the Supreme Court Rules, 2013 on 27th May, 2014 wherein, inter-alia, it is provided that the period of summer vacation shall not exceed seven weeks. It is further provided that 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 and notified in the official Gazette so as not to exceed one hundred and three days, excluding Sundays not falling in the vacation and during Court holidays.
Government does not have under its consideration any proposal to abolish/curtail the practice of summer vacation in the Courts.