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Acting Chief Justice of Delhi High Court has directed the Delhi District Court Judges to send a report in regard to advance updation of leave taken by the Judicial Officers.
The bench of Acting Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Navin Chawla, in an order passed on April 4, on a writ Petition filed by Amish Aggarwala, Advocate, had directed District Court Judges to send a report in regard to the leave applications received since February 1; the date and time when the same was filed and the date and time when information with regard to the leave was updated on the website of the District Court concerned. Reasons for the delay in updation should also be disclosed in respect of each such instance. The report be sent within 2 weeks and listed the matter for April 28, 2022, the court directed. The Delhi High Court earlier had directed that Delhi District Court Judges should send intimation of their intention to take leave at least one day in advance to their concerned District and Session Judge and that the same should be updated on the Delhi District Courts Website immediately. The petitioner Amish Aggarwala, a Practising Lawyer has submitted that the court's order was diligently followed for some time. However, with the passage of time, it is not being adhered to anymore and once again there is laxity in the matter of updation of the leave status of the Judicial Officers serving in the District Judiciary. The High Court earlier directed that in case of any hardship or unforeseen exigency, when any leave is applied at the last moment, intimation by/ through concerned judicial officer be sent promptly, using electronic means, so that the same is received at the office of the principle of District and Sessions Judge before 10 am, enabling the uploading of the same forthwith on the website for intimation of all concerned. The Delhi High Court earlier had also issued a notification in this regard. In the petition, it was asserted that the absence of leave by a judicial officer is never informed in advance to the public. There is a "Judges on Leave" section on the website of the Delhi District Courts, but it updates Judges on leave for a particular day only on the concerned day itself, that only post 11:00 am. In the meantime, thousands scramble to get to court in time, giving countless hours in preparing our cases the day prior. The direction is a welcome step towards better management of court systems in Delhi, said petitioner Amish Aggarwala, who has been practising law in Delhi for the past 8 years. (ANI)
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