BREAKING | No Oral Mentioning, Urgent Matters To Be Auto-Listed Within 2 Days : CJI Surya Kant Launches Sweeping Reforms in Supreme Court Listing
From the Editor's Desk
Days after Justice Surya Kant took over as Chief Justice of India, the Supreme Court rolled out a sweeping revamp of its procedures for oral mentioning, urgent listing and adjournment of cases, to take effect from December 1, 2025. The overhaul, set out in four separate circulars, is intended to streamline the filing process, minimise routine mentioning before benches and speed up the listing of cases concerning personal liberty and urgent interim relief. Under the new listing and mentioning norms, parties will not be required to seek a hearing date through oral mentioning before the CJI, and matters flagged as seeking urgent relief will be taken up for listing automatically within two working days.
No Oral Mentioning Before CJI; Seniors Barred From Mentioning
Under the new rules, litigants will no longer be required to make oral mentioning before the Chief Justice of India for listing of matters. Oral mentioning before the CJI has been barred, except where specifically permitted.
Senior Counsel have also been prohibited from mentioning cases before any bench. Instead, junior advocates are encouraged to handle oral mentioning, with the Court explicitly opening up this space to younger members of the Bar.
Matters requiring urgent relief, as specified in the circulars, will be taken up for listing automatically within two working days.
Automatic Listing of Urgent Liberty and Interim Relief Matters
All fresh cases involving personal liberty and urgent interim relief will now be listed automatically within two working days of defect curing and verification. These include:
- Regular bail and anticipatory bail
- Cancellation of bail
- Death penalty matters
- Habeas corpus petitions
- Eviction or dispossession cases
- Demolition matters
- Any other case requiring urgent interim orders
For these categories, litigants and lawyers will no longer need to seek oral mentioning.
For other fresh matters, the Court has standardised the listing schedule:
- Cases verified on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday will be listed the following Monday.
- Cases verified on Friday, Saturday and Monday will be listed the following Friday.
Exceptionally Urgent Matters to Go Through Mentioning Officer
Where a case requires advancement of its listing date due to urgent interim relief, parties must route their request through the designated Mentioning Officer.
They are required to submit:
- The prescribed Mentioning Proforma, and
- A letter detailing the nature of urgency
These must be submitted by 3 pm on the previous working day (or by 11:30 am on Saturdays).
Exceptions are confined to matters such as anticipatory bail, death penalty, habeas corpus, and urgent eviction or demolition cases. In exceptionally urgent situations within these categories, where the matter cannot await the scheduled date, the Mentioning Proforma and urgency letter must be handed over to the Mentioning Officer before 10:30 am.
The Mentioning Officer will then place these requests before the Registrar (Judicial Listing) for appropriate orders from the Chief Justice of India. The urgency letter must clearly state why the case cannot wait for its scheduled listing, in terms specified in the annexed circular.
Regular Matters Barred From Mentioning
The Court has made it clear that regular hearing matters cannot be mentioned at all for listing. Only applications seeking urgent relief or early hearing may be filed, and these too must be processed strictly through the Mentioning Officer.
Tighter Rules for Adjournments
A separate circular revises and tightens the procedure for seeking adjournments:
- Letters for adjournment in fresh and after-notice matters may be circulated only up to 11 am on the previous working day.
- Adjournments will be considered only after obtaining consent of counsel for the opposite side.
- Bereavement in the family and medical emergencies of advocates or parties are recognised as grounds, along with other genuine reasons accepted by the Court.
- All adjournment requests must be in the prescribed format and emailed to: adjournment.letter@sci.nic.in
- No adjournment letters will be entertained in regular matters.
Separate Circular on Bail Petitions
To ensure expeditious disposal of bail matters, the Supreme Court has also mandated that an advance copy of every bail petition must be served on the concerned Nodal Officer or Standing Counsel for the respondent – whether the Union of India, a State government or a Union Territory. This requirement is detailed in a separate circular issued by the Court.
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Circular on circulation of letters seeking adjournment of cases
Circular on listing of matters
Circular on mentioning of matters
