CJI Surya Kant forms four special benches that'll exclusively hear Supreme Court's oldest cases: Report

Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant reportedly formed four dedicated benches that will exclusively hear the Supreme Court’s oldest civil and criminal cases.

The Chief Justice told the Hindustan Times on Sunday that the initiative was intended to reaffirm public confidence in the justice delivery system by ensuring that age-old cases receive sustained judicial attention.

He was quoted as saying, “The judiciary’s foremost obligation is not merely to decide cases, but to decide them within a timeframe that preserves the faith of citizens in the rule of law.”

"Every old pending matter represents a litigant who has waited years, and sometimes decades, for closure. The age of a case cannot become the reason for its continued neglect," CJI Kant said.

He said that by constituting dedicated benches to exclusively hear the oldest civil and criminal matters, the Supreme Court seeks to institutionalise a culture where long-pending litigation receives sustained and uninterrupted judicial attention.

Every old case that reaches its logical conclusion reinforces the credibility of the justice delivery system and reaffirms the constitutional promise that justice shall not be defeated by the passage of time, Justice Kant said.

The decision came as around 800 long-pending matters were identified for expedited disposal in the Supreme Court’s first structured docket-management exercise in recent years, the Hindustan Times reported.

Four dedicated benches

The four special benches are expected to devote three working days every week exclusively to these legacy matters, free from the regular burden of miscellaneous hearings, the Hindustan Times reported.

A fresh roster notification, effective from July 13, revealed that two division benches, headed by Justices PK Mishra and SVN Bhatti, will exclusively hear the oldest civil matters on non-miscellaneous days — Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Two other division benches headed by Justices Manoj Misra and Ujjal Bhuyan will similarly hear the oldest criminal cases on those days.

The notification states, as per HT, “Two Division Benches, headed respectively by Hon’ble Mr Justice PK Mishra and Hon’ble Mr Justice SVN Bhatti, shall exclusively deal with the oldest Civil Matters on Non-Miscellaneous days...Two Division Benches, headed respectively by Hon’ble Mr Justice Manoj isra and Hon’ble Mr Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, shall exclusively deal with the oldest Criminal Matters on Non-Miscellaneous days...”

Sources told HT that nearly 200 of the oldest matters have been identified for each of the four benches, translating to around 800 old cases in total to begin with that will now receive focussed judicial attention.

The initiative represents one of the first major administrative reforms undertaken by CJI Kant and is aligned with his stated objective of tackling pendency through targeted judicial management rather than ad hoc disposal drives.