• Source:JND
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In a striking courtroom exchange that revealed the immense pressure on the judiciary, Supreme Court judge Justice Surya Kant offered a pointed reply to a lawyer pushing for an urgent hearing.

"Unless someone is about to be hanged, I will never list a mentioned case on the same day," he said. “You people don't understand the plight of judges,” he added, underlining the mounting workload and demanding schedule faced by the bench.

"Do you know how many hours we are sleeping?" he asked, voicing frustration over repeated demands for same-day listings without sufficient grounds for urgency as he declined a plea for same-day hearing in a matter involving the auction of a residential house.

Justice Kant, who is poised to take over as the Chief Justice of India this November, was addressing a plea during the routine morning mentioning session, a daily practice where lawyers request the court to urgently hear cases not already scheduled.

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The case in question involved the auction of a residential property. The counsel, seeking immediate relief, argued that the house was due to be auctioned the same day. But Justice Kant stood firm, drawing a clear line on what qualifies as urgent.

According to NDTV, his candid moment follows a rule introduced in August that has significantly changed the way urgent matters are brought before the Supreme Court.

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As of August 11, senior advocates are no longer allowed to mention cases for same-day listing before the bench of Chief Justice Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai, a move aimed at streamlining judicial proceedings and curbing misuse of the mentioning process.

The change has altered a longstanding tradition in the Supreme Court, where lawyers often senior advocates would appear before the court at the start of the day to request immediate hearings for time-sensitive matters.