SC to set up a special bench to hear tax matters, criminal appeals, motor accident claims
Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said that from next week, the Supreme Court will have a special bench to exclusively deal with tax matters. A bench headed by CJI Chandrachud comprising Justices Hima Kohli and JB Pardiwala said that a similar special bench will also be set up to hear criminal appeals, land acquisition cases, and motor accident claims cases.
New Delhi: Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said that from next week the Supreme Court will have a special bench to exclusively deal with tax matters. Addressing a group of lawyers on Tuesday, he said, “From next week on Wednesdays and Fridays, special benches will be set up to deal with direct and indirect sales tax matters.”The bench headed by CJI Chandrachud included Justice Hima Kohli And JB Pardiwala said that a similar special bench would also be set up to hear criminal appeals, land acquisition cases, and motor accident claims cases. Earlier a circular was issued by the apex court, in which a new system for listing cases was notified.
As per the circular issued by the apex court on November 22, 2022, 10 transfer petitions (after notice) and 10 bail matters will be listed on top of the board before the courts on all 5 days. Also, seven new cases will be listed every week on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. The Supreme Court has notified the Bar that cases for regular hearings will be listed on Wednesdays and Thursdays and not on Tuesdays. In addition, applications for condonation of delay in refilling cases will be listed before the court instead of being listed before the Chamber Judge or Registrar Court, the notice said. A few days ago, the CJI had asked all 13 benches to hear 10 matrimonial matters and 10 bail petitions on a daily basis to reduce the case pendency in the Supreme Court.
Hearing of 20 pending cases daily will reduce the burden of pendency: CJI
The CJI had said that this decision was taken in a meeting of all the judges of the apex court. He had said that after a full court meeting, we have decided that each bench will hear 10 matrimonial transfer cases and 10 bail cases daily. All such matters have to be settled before the winter vacation. Such pending cases need to be given priority as they pertain to personal liberty. He had said that till now there are 3,000 petitions related to matrimonial matters pending in the apex court, where the parties are seeking transfer of the cases to a place of their choice.
Chief Justice Justice Chandrachud had said that if each bench heard 10 transfer cases per day, the 13 benches would be able to decide 130 cases per day and 650 cases per week. In this way, the workload will also end. The CJI had said that after disposing of these 20 bail and transfer petitions on a daily basis, the bench would start taking up regular matters. He decided to cut down on the number of cases being listed in the supplementary list at the last moment, to reduce the burden on the judges who are forced to go through the case files till late in the night.
