Protest Over Justice Transfer Cause Adjournment of Cases in Delhi HC

The Delhi High Court had to adjourn most of the listed cases on Monday, due to the protest by lawyers against the transfer of Justice Gaurang Kanth to the Calcutta High Court.

The Delhi High Court Bar Association (DHCBA) had expressed opposition to the transfer, which was recommended by the Supreme Court Collegium on July 12 and subsequently notified by the Central government on July 15.

The DHCBA claimed that the transfer would impact the administration of justice in the Delhi High Court and urged its members to refrain from work. As a result, courtrooms that are typically busy on Mondays were noticeably vacant, with proxy counsel seeking adjournments in many cases.

The repeated requests for adjournment without providing any grounds prompted the Division Bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Narula to question the proxy counsel on the reasons for seeking adjournments.

While the Bench did hear certain cases in which lawyers appeared, it emphasized the need to proceed with matters where parties were present.

Justice Siddharth Mridul, who previously sat with Justice Gaurang Kanth, sat with Justice Anish Dayal and expressed that adjournments would be granted in cases where counsel were not present, while indicating a willingness to hear matters if counsel were available. Similar situations were observed before other benches as well.