BREAKING: Supreme Court to Hold Special Sitting for Urgent Matters on Dec 26 or 29; Registry to Scrutinise Pleas
CJI Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi announced a special sitting later this month to hear urgent matters, subject to scrutiny by the Supreme Court Registry
Chief Justice of India Justice Surya Kant with Justice Joymalya Bagchi during Supreme Court proceedings in New Delhi
In a special sitting, during the winter vacation on Monday, the Supreme Court announced that a Bench comprising Chief Justice of India Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi will hold a special sitting later this month to hear urgent matters.
As informed during mentioning, the special court is likely to sit either on Friday, December 26, or Monday, December 29, depending on administrative feasibility.
It was clarified that only urgent matters will be taken up during the special sitting, and all such cases will first be scrutinised by the Registry of the Supreme Court before being placed before the Bench.
Previously, on December 19, the CJI had said that it will hold a special vacation sitting on December 22 to hear urgent cases, as the Court closed for its winter break. The CJI had clarified that the decision on whether one or more benches would sit on December 22 would depend on the number of genuinely urgent matters received. Regular court sittings will resume on January 5, 2025. The observations were made during oral mentioning of cases by lawyers seeking urgent listing on the last working day before the winter vacation.
The Chief Justice had made it clear that no fresh matters would be listed for hearing on Friday itself, citing the heavy workload already borne by judges. “There has been massive filing this week. The hon’ble judges have spent the entire night reading briefs. I am not going to ask them to read a new brief today,” the CJI had said, refusing to permit same-day listings.
When a counsel pressed for urgent listing, the CJI had responded pointedly, asking whether those seeking listing were prepared to argue the matters during the vacation. “All those who are in the queue seeking listing, will you argue on Monday? We are ready to sit on Monday,” he had said.
Emphasising that urgency would be strictly scrutinised, the Chief Justice had stated that matters would be listed on December 22 only if counsels were willing to argue them on that day. “Wherever you give an urgent memo, we will find out if there is an actual urgency and list on Monday. The only condition is that you will have to argue on Monday,” he had told the Bar.
Addressing mentions relating to child custody disputes, bail pleas and requests for protection from arrest, the CJI had said the Registry would first assess whether real urgency existed. “If it is found that there is genuine urgency, interim bail or custody issue, then we will list the matter on December 22,” he had said, adding that the number of benches would be decided after assessing the volume of such cases.
The Chief Justice had also recalled his remarks made a day earlier, on December 18, when he had indicated the possibility of a vacation sitting. “If you are willing to come on Monday, December 22, I will persuade one of the Judges to sit with me during the Winter Vacation,” he had said while hearing oral mentions.
During Friday’s proceedings, the CJI had reiterated that matters could not be listed the very next day and asked counsels to file urgency letters along with an undertaking that they would argue the case if listed during the vacation.
The Court had noted that while the winter vacation formally begins on Friday, December 19, urgent matters are still maintainable during the break. However, after briefly perusing several matters mentioned for urgent listing on December 18, the Bench had observed that many of them did not disclose any pressing urgency. “These matters can wait till January or even April 2026,” the Court had remarked, signalling a firm approach against routine mentions being dressed up as urgent pleas.
Bench: CJI Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi
Mentioning Date: December 22, 2025