On 19-05-2025, the Supreme Court released a circular revising the procedures for circulating letters requesting adjournments of cases, modifying the previous circular dated 14-02-2024.
This development follows a letter from the Supreme Court Advocates-On-Record Association (SCAORA) to the newly appointed Chief Justice of India, Justice B.R. Gavai, on 14-05-2025. In their correspondence, the SCAORA sought the reinstatement of the letter circulation mechanism and requested that the sequence of matters be included in the supplementary list.
The SCAORA explained that the letter circulation mechanism allowed advocates to inform the Court of their unavailability due to personal or professional commitments. The mechanism was a valuable tool and the discontinuation of the same caused severe impediment to the members over the past several months. SCAORA stated that restoring the circulation of adjournment letters would enable advocates to promptly inform the Court when they are unable to appear, ensuring that cases are rescheduled in a timely manner, and reducing the risk of adjournments that could disrupt the Court’s schedule and also burden the litigants with financial hardships to engage Senior Advocates for their matters, which ultimately might get adjourned, on account of unavoidable circumstances.
Here’s all you need to know about the circulation of letters for adjournment of cases:
Deadline for Submission
Letters for adjournment can be circulated by Advocates-on-Record or Parties-in-Person in all cases, except for fixed date or mentioned matters. The requests must be submitted by 11:00 a.m. on the previous working day.
Mandatory Requirements
-
Prior Consent: Adjournment letters will only be considered if the consent or no objection from the opposing Advocates or Parties-in-Person is obtained. Without this, the request will not be entertained.
-
Specific Reason: Specific reason for seeking adjournment and number of adjournments already sought shall be mentioned.
Grounds for Consideration
Adjournments will only be granted in cases of:
-
Bereavement in the family
-
Medical or health conditions of the Advocate or Party-in-Person
-
Other genuine reasons deemed satisfactory by the Court.
Submission details
Request for adjournment of case to be submitted in the prescribed format as per Annexure ‘A’ through e-mail: adjournment.letter@sci.nic.in.
Access the prescribed format, here.
