'Won't order listing of case on same day unless ...': Supreme Court judge

File

Supreme Court judge Surya Kant on Wednesday said he won't order urgent listing of a case on the same day unless someone is about to be hanged. He further asked whether anyone understands the "plight of judges", their hours of work and how much sleep they get.

Justice Kant was heading a bench, also comprising Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and N Kotiswar Singh, which was hearing the mentioning of cases for urgent listing.

As master of the roster, Chief Justice B R Gavai normally hears such mentioning. However, he is sitting on a five-judge constitution bench. As a matter of practice, the second most senior judge hears the mentioning of cases if the CJI is preoccupied with some constitutional bench matter or is indisposed.

Justice Kant's remarks came when an advocate, Shobha Gupta, mentioned that a residential house in Rajasthan will be auctioned today and hence be listed today itself.

"Unless someone is about to be hanged, I will never list a mentioned case on the same day. You people don't understand the plight of judges, do you even know how many hours they have been working and how many hours they get sleep? Unless someone's liberty is at stake, we will not list it the same day," Justice Kant said.

When Gupta persisted, Justice Kant asked when the auction notice was issued. She replied that the auction notice was issued last week and a certain amount already paid towards the outstanding amount.

Justice Kant told Gupta to not expect a listing of the case for the next couple of months. However, he later asked the court master to list the matter on Friday.