Overview

• The Supreme Court's summer recess, running from May 23 to July 2025, has been rebranded as 'partial working days' to tackle case pendency.
• A total of 21 Vacation Benches, including the five senior-most judges in the first week, will operate during the recess.
• Chief Justice B. R. Gavai's bench will focus on environmental matters, highlighting the judiciary's commitment to critical issues.
• CJI Gavai urged lawyers to avoid unnecessary adjournments and cooperate to reduce the record backlog of 82,887 cases as of August 2024.
• The reform follows criticism of prior vacation policies, including a 2022 decision to suspend winter Vacation Benches, which spurred debate on judicial availability.