Supreme Court Plea Seeks Urgent Access To Courts Outside Ordinary Hours, Weekends and Public Holidays

The Supreme Court today heard a plea seeking an institutional mechanism enabling urgent access to constitutional courts for matters involving life, liberty and other fundamental rights, including outside ordinary court hours, weekends and public holidays.

Advocate and petitioner in person Maheravish Rein, appearing before a CJI Surya Kant led bench stated, "When there is life and liberty in question..urgency..if I file something at 6'o clock in the evening I cannot access it till the next morning..think about a litigant who comes to court...I can access the court only during the day..."

"There is difference between access to justice during official hours and during non-official hours..," Justice Bagchi told Rein.

Rein also shared with court an incident where she reached out to courts in December 2025 late night seeking protection for an interfaith couple but was asked to wait till the next morning.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who was present in court intervened and said, "Maybe something can be done on administrative side..High Courts can come out with an SOP..Rather than bringing everything here..High Court's may be asked to come up with an SOP..it may be counterproductive bringing 30 lawyers here to assist..".

Rein's plea seeks directions to the High Courts of the country, through their respective Registrars General, to evolve suitable procedures or rosters for the hearing of urgent matters involving fundamental rights beyond regular court hours, wherever necessary.

The plea also seeks creation of Emergency Constitutional Benches or designated duty judges, accessible through electronic filing and digital platforms, for urgent matters involving imminent threats to life, liberty and fundamental rights.

A declaration has been sought to declare that the effective enforcement of fundamental rights guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India necessarily requires timely and meaningful access to constitutional courts, particularly in situations involving imminent threats to life and personal liberty.

"..the present institutional framework of courts largely restricts access to judicial remedies to designated court hours, working days and limited vacation benches. As a result, individuals facing urgent violations of liberty and fundamental rights often encounter significant practical difficulty in obtaining immediate judicial protection during nights, weekends, public holidays and court recesses. In circumstances involving illegal detention, imminent demolition of homes, deportation proceedings, custodial violence or other executive actions affecting life, liberty and dignity, the absence of a structured and institutionalised mechanism ensuring continuous judicial accessibility may result in irreversible consequences before affected persons are able to approach constitutional courts," the plea states.

Supreme Court has been told that the protection of liberty cannot remain dependent upon the temporal boundaries of court schedules. In a constitutional democracy governed by the rule of law, the Constitution cannot fall silent at night, nor can the protection of liberty await the morning bell of the courts, the plea argues.

Case Title: MAHERAVISH REIN VS. UNION OF INDIA & ORS

Bench: CJI Kant, Justice Bagchi and Justice Mohana

Hearing Date: July 14, 2026