Delhi High Court Bar Association flags lack of consultation for HC move to have working Saturdays

The Delhi High Court Bar Association (DHCBA) has expressed serious concern over the decision that each Bench of the Delhi High Court will observe one working Saturday every month this year.

In a letter addressed to Delhi High Court Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya, the Bar Association said the full court decision issued on October 4 has caused “deep concern and disquiet” among advocates and would result in practical inconvenience, lack of uniformity, and disruption of work-life balance.

The DHCBA has asked the High Court to keep the decision in abeyance or fix one Saturday as the working day for all benches. 

“While the Delhi High Court Bar Association holds the highest regard for the decisions of the Full Court and fully supports all initiatives aimed at improving judicial efficiency and reducing pendency, it is most respectfully submitted that the Bar was neither consulted nor informed before such a decision was taken. Since the functioning of Courts necessarily involves the active participation of Advocates, the absence of any consultation with the Bar has caused genuine hardship and a sense of exclusion,” the DHCBA has said. 

Notably, under the new arrangement, different Benches of the High Court may sit on varying Saturdays each month.

"It has been resolved by Hon’ble the Full Court in its meeting held on 22.09.2025 that each Bench of this Court shall observe one working Saturday of every month as a Court working day during the Calendar Year 2025," the High Court had said in a notification issued on October 4.

However, the DHCBA said that this effectively requires advocates to remain available every weekend.

“Further, under the present arrangement, the members of the Bar would be required to be available every Saturday for the Benches that may sit on different dates. This effectively results in lawyers being required to work on all Saturdays, without any uniformity and predictability. This would lead to practical inconvenience and considerable difficulty for Advocates and will disrupt work-life balance and impose disproportionate burdens on the members of the Bar,” the Bar Association said.