CJI Surya Kant proposes daily 2 pm-4 pm sittings to clear 29 pending Constitution Bench cases

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday suggested that it could hold two-hour sittings daily after lunch to take up long-pending seven-judge Constitution Bench references, while reserving the morning or pre-lunch court sessions for hearings in fresh and miscellaneous cases.

A three-member bench, comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, noted that there were 29 pending Constitution Bench matters.


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Speaking for the Bench, CJI Kant verbally remarked that some matters "may have become academic but the legal issue may still survive".

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing before the bench, agreed with the CJI's assessment. "The academic issue still remains because there are two contrary views. It will have to be settled," Sibal submitted.

CJI proposed that daily hearings of these matters could help in settling these long-pending cases.

"One possibility is to list these matters every day from 2 pm to 4 pm. We can hear them for two hours daily without allowing fresh matters to pile up," CJI Kant verbally remarked.

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Sibal suggested an alternative, where the Constitution Bench matters could be heard continuously across three days: Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. CJI flagged a practical difficulty with the said approach. Another counsel present in the courtroom added that the afternoon arrangement would maintain a balance, but restricting the hearing to two hours could prolong it.

The CJI indicated the court could examine these solutions on a trial basis.