HC orders panel of 5 judges to review Saturday working order

Jaipur: The Acting Chief Justice (ACJ) of the Rajasthan High Court, Justice Sanjeev Prakash Sharma, Tuesday ordered the constitution of a committee comprising five judges to examine objections raised by the legal fraternity over the recent decision to declare two Saturdays every month as working days. The committee will prepare a report and place it before the ACJ on Jan 21, after which it will be forwarded to the Full Court for a final decision on the matter.Lawyers practicing at the HC in Jaipur and Jodhpur, together with their counterparts in subordinate courts, abstained from work Monday in protest against the Full Court's decision to add two extra working days per month to the HC calendar.
According to a press note, representatives of the Bar Council of Rajasthan and bar associations from Jaipur and Jodhpur met ACJ Sharma Tuesday over the issue.At the meeting, representatives of the bar expressed serious objection to the decision, stating that it was taken without any consultation with the wider legal fraternity. "We also pointed out that, under Section 23A of the High Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Act, 1954, any decision to increase the number of working days of a high court can be taken only by the President of India and not by the Full Court," said Rajeev Sogarwal, president of the Rajasthan High Court Bar Association, Jaipur.Following the ACJ's order, the registrar general of the Rajasthan HC in Jodhpur named Justices Sameer Jain, Kuldeep Mathur, Anil Kumar Upman, Yogendra Kumar Purohit and Sunil Beniwal as members of the committee.The committee is expected to hold discussions with bar representatives, senior advocates and other stakeholders.