The Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh High court has passed an administrative order which said that the high court will not follow the colonial tradition of having separate timings for winter and summer sessions. The order also added that from 1st June onwards, the High Court will follow uniform timings throughout the year.
The High court and the lower courts will function for five hours per day, mandatorily from 1st June, as against the current system of working for four and a half hours of functioning. The order also provides for synchronization of both Srinagar and Jammu wings of the High Court. For the Jammu wing, the lower courts will work from 10 am to 4 pm. And for the Srinagar wing, the timings will be 10:00 am to 04:30. Earlier, for the summer season, that is May to September, the timings were 8:00 am to 1:30 pm.
Chief Justice of the HC observed that the due to current timings, half an hour is lost every day, when the mandatory timings are five hours a day, hence this is wastage of precious court timings. The order states that the timings of all over the courts have been studied, from which it can be inferred that the Supreme Court and all the other High courts follow the uniform timings round the year, irrespective of the weather, with an exception of Rajasthan High court.
The Chief Justice has said that the decision has been made after taking the constitutional rights of the people in mind, who are unable to access the court at such times and hence denying them right to equal opportunity of justice. It also took in account the factor of remoteness of towns and villages and lack of synchronization between the two wings of the High Court. The decision was taken to avoid the disruption of court functioning and wastage of court hours.
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