The Delhi High Court has postponed its previous decision to hold court sessions on the first and third Saturdays of each month. The High Court issued a notification on Friday indicating that a full court meeting occurred on July 9, where it was resolved to delay the implementation of this decision. Instead, a committee, to be established by the Chief Justice, will further examine the implications of this proposal.
Initially, the High Court announced on January 15 that the first and third Saturdays would become official court days. This was a significant shift from the standard practice, where Saturdays were generally non-working days, with few exceptions. This decision, however, met considerable opposition from the Delhi High Court Bar Association (DHCBA), which initiated a boycott of court proceedings starting April 4.
The controversy over Saturday sittings has been a prolonged issue between the Bar and the Bench. In October 2025, the High Court attempted a similar initiative, requiring each Bench to convene on one Saturday per month to speed up case resolutions. The DHCBA opposed this, arguing that they were not consulted and that it would pose logistical challenges for legal practitioners.
A survey conducted by Bar & Bench in February 2026 highlighted significant dissent within the legal community against the idea of instituting working Saturdays in High Courts. Out of 853 respondents, 70.8% opposed the two-working-Saturdays-a-month proposal, while only 29.2% were in favor. Additionally, 69.5% of those surveyed believed that increasing the number of court working days would not significantly decrease case backlogs. A substantial 84.6% felt that the move would adversely affect the work-life balance of advocates, court staff, and judges.
Many respondents suggested that instead of increasing working days, efforts should focus on enhancing judicial capacity and addressing staffing shortages to effectively manage the existing case workload.
