In what can be seen as a landmark move in direction of reforms, CJI Surya Kant has ordered that from January 2026, the Supreme Court will not allow “endless hearings” anymore. Every lawyer will have to commit in writing to finish arguments within a fixed time . This is a push towards faster justice, zero delays.
Introducing yet another significant reform in the day-to-day functioning of the Supreme Court, Chief Justice of India Surya Kant in consultation with other judges of the apex court has laid down a Standard Operating Procedure for lawyers to strictly adhere to timelines for submission of oral arguments in all cases, with immediate effect.
Issuing a circular, the Supreme Court has said the measure is to facilitate “effective Court Management and equitable distribution of Court working hours and to ensure speedy and proper administration of justice."The SOP, which comes into force with immediate effect, says, “Senior advocates, arguing counsel and/or advocate-on-record, shall submit the timelines for making oral arguments in all post-notice and regular hearing matters, at least a day prior to the commencement of the hearing of the case. The same shall be submitted to the Hon’ble Court through the online portal for submitting appearance slips already provided to the advocate-on-record (AoR).”
It said that the arguing counsel, including senior advocates, through their AoR or nodal counsel, nominated by the bench, if any, shall file a brief note or written submission not exceeding five pages after serving a copy on the other side at least three days before the date of hearing. “All counsel shall strictly adhere to the timelines fixed and conclude their oral arguments,” the circular, signed by four apex court registrars, said.
During a recent hearing of pleas challenging Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar and other states, CJI Surya Kant had said, “From January 2026, I will not permit this endless hearings in cases. All the Counsels will have to give in writing a commitment to meet that they’ll argue in the schedules time-frame. This will be done so that there is equitable and proportional allocation of court time to all the cases. There are so many poor people languishing in jail, fighting for bail and we are not getting time to hear them."
The circular issued yesterday said: “Senior Advocates, Arguing counsel and/or Advocate-on-record, shall submit the timelines for making oral arguments in all post-notice and Regular Hearing matters, at least a day prior to the commencement of the hearing of the case. The same shall be submitted to the Hon’ble Court through the online portal for submitting Appearance Slips already provided to the Advocate-onrecord”.
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