The Punjab & Haryana High Court Bar Association on Tuesday strongly opposed the proposal to hold regular court sittings on two Saturdays every month.
The response was issued by Senior Advocate Rupinder Singh Khosla, Chairman of the Election Committee, which is currently handling the Association's affairs in an interim capacity ahead of elections.
In its reply dated April 5, responding to the High Court Registry’s letter of April 29, the Bar Association said that the proposal had already been considered and rejected by its General House earlier.
It added that such a move would be detrimental to both lawyers and judges. Reiterating its position, the Association said,
“The Bar Association completely rejects the idea of any Saturday being made working and will not accept the same.”
The Association stated that Saturdays are effectively the only weekly break available to lawyers, as Sundays are typically spent preparing cases listed during the week and meeting clients. It emphasised that this existing schedule leaves little room for rest during the week.
“As such, the only holiday available to the High Court lawyers is a Saturday and if that is also taken away, it would be impossible for the lawyers to assist the Hon'ble Court in any effective manner,” said the letter.
It further contended that judges are already burdened with heavy caseloads, with around 150 matters listed before a bench daily. Noting that judges often sit beyond official court hours, the Association said that by the end of the week, they are already exhausted and additional sittings on Saturdays would adversely affect their efficiency.
Instead of increasing working days, the Bar Association urged authorities to address the issue of vacancies.
It pointed out that the High Court has never functioned at its full sanctioned strength of 85 judges and questioned why vacancies are not filled in advance despite known retirement dates.
"That rather than indulge in optics, it is felt that the number of sitting judges should be increased so as to ensure that there is no vacancy whatsoever at any point of time. It is rather sad that at no point in time the Hon'ble High Court has worked to its full strength of 85 judges," noted the Association.
It further pointed out that retirement dates of judges are known well in advance, adding that it was “incomprehensible” that despite having years to prepare, vacancies are not filled immediately upon a judge’s retirement.
The Bar Association also dismissed concerns about inadequate infrastructure, stating that the Punjab and Haryana High Court has sufficient courtroom capacity to accommodate more judges. It pointed out that 69 courtrooms are currently functional, with over 15 additional courtrooms available in the basement that have been used in the past.
The proposal to introduce working Saturdays in High Courts traces back to a broader push led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant. He had suggested that High Courts across the country should function on at least two Saturdays every month to tackle mounting case pendency.
Acting on this suggestion, several High Courts - including those in Delhi, Rajasthan, Manipur and Gauhati - have already implemented Saturday sittings.
However, the proposal has triggered sharp resistance from Bar bodies nationwide.
A Bar & Bench survey conducted in February 2026 also reflected significant opposition within the legal community to the idea of working Saturdays in High Courts.
The survey, which saw 853 respondents, had found that 70.8% opposed introducing two working Saturdays a month, while only 29.2% supported the proposal.
A majority of respondents (69.5%) also said that increasing the number of court working days would not meaningfully reduce case pendency.
Most participants instead had identified increasing judicial strength and filling vacancies as more effective ways to address case backlog.
[Read Letter]