Delhi High Court Bar Association seeks rollback of HC decision to work on first and third Saturdays

The Delhi High Court Bar Association (DHCBA) has asked the High Court to reconsider its decision to make the first and third Saturdays of every month regular court working days. 

In a letter addressed to High Court Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and other judges on February 4, the lawyers’ association has said that the move is causing widespread resentment within the Bar and may undermine the quality of justice delivery.

It added that the decision, communicated by the High Court through a circular dated January 15, was taken despite an earlier objection by the bar.

The bar has said the solution to reducing pendency of cases in the High Court lies in filling up 16 vacancies, rather than increasing the Court’s working days. Therefore, it has requested Chief Justice Upadhyaya to consider filling up vacancies in a time-bound manner. 

“As of now there is a lot of resentment in the members of our association. We remain confident that these concerns will receive Your Lordship's sympathetic and thoughtful consideration. In the meantime, your lordship may kindly consider keeping in abeyance the effect of the circular dated 15.01.2026, whereby we were informed about the 1^st & 3^rd Saturday becoming a working day,” the letter stated. 

The DHCBA also questioned the systemic benefit of Saturday sittings.

According to the bar body, increased workload leads to physical and mental fatigue among lawyers, which in turn affects efficiency in court proceedings since a fatigued Bar cannot effectively serve the cause of justice. 

Further, judges too already face demanding workloads involving daily hearings, administrative responsibilities and judgment writing.

Regular Saturday sittings risk contributing to the judges’ burnout, it said. 

“We believe that the requisite quota of 210 days of regular court's sitting is met even without the insistence of the 1^st & 3^rd Saturday being made regular court days,” it added.