Delhi High Court Defers Working Saturdays Decision Following Bar Association Opposition
The Delhi High Court in New Delhi has put on hold its previous decision to declare the first and third Saturdays of every month as active court-sitting days. The decision to defer the implementation of working Saturdays was resolved during a full court meeting held on July 9, 2026, following sustained opposition from the Delhi High Court Bar Association (DHCBA).
According to an official notice issued by Registrar General Arun Bhardwaj, a special committee will now be constituted by Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya to review the decision. The committee is tasked with looking into all relevant aspects of the order before any further actions are taken.
The notice stated that the full court resolved to defer its earlier decision from December 22, 2025, which had been formally issued through a notification dated January 15, 2026. That initial notification had established the first and third Saturdays of each month as official court-sitting days.
The original move to introduce working Saturdays came after Chief Justice of India Surya Kant requested the chief justices of various high courts to dedicate two Saturdays every month to judicial work. In response, the Delhi High Court had agreed to the schedule during its December 2025 meeting.
However, the decision met with immediate pushback from local legal professionals. On February 4, the DHCBA sent a communique requesting the judges to withdraw the decision. The association highlighted that the mandate had caused considerable resentment among its members.
The DHCBA argued that the additional Saturday workload did not lead to any lasting or systemic benefits in practical terms. Instead, the association warned that the extra working days would cause physical and mental fatigue among lawyers, ultimately undermining their efficiency. They also noted that the move would increase the overall judicial workload for the bench.
The dispute escalated in April, when the DHCBA decided to protest the measure by abstaining from work on Saturday. The newly announced deferral and committee review represent a pause in the implementation of the weekend court sessions.
