Are Judges Taking Too Many 'Coffee, Lunch Breaks'? Supreme Court Calls For Performance Audit

The Supreme Court observed that some judges take unnecessary breaks and called for a performance audit.

The Supreme Court observed that some judges take unnecessary breaks and called for a performance audit.

Source : PTI

The Supreme Court on Tuesday called for a performance audit to evaluate the working of judges, particularly since numerous complaints are being about the efficiency of High Court judges. 

A Bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice NK Singh made the observation orally that while some judges work very hard, there are other who unnecessarily take frequent breaks, raising concerns about their use of time, reported Bar and Bench. 

"There are some judges who work very hard, but at the same time, there are judges who are unnecessarily taking coffee breaks; this break or that break. What is for lunch hour, etc. We are hearing a lot of complaints about the High Court judges," the apex court observed.

This is a larger issue which needs to be looked into. What is the performance of the High Court judges? How much we are spending and what is the output? It's high time we do a performance audit," it added. 

The observation was made while hearing a plea by four life convicts belonging to  Scheduled Tribe or Other Backward Classes (OBC) communities. The convicts alleged that the Jharkhand High Court failed to deliver a verdict on their criminal appeals despite reserving these matters for judgment for over two to three years, as per the report. 

The top court had earlier sought information on the status of these cases. 

After the nudge by the court, Advocate Fauzia Shakil, appearing for the convicts, said that the verdicts in their cases were pronounced on May 5 and 6. Three of the four convicts were acquitted while the remaining resulted in a split verdict and the matter was referred to the high court chief justice and he was granted bail, the advocate apprised the court.