CHENNAI: At a time when all court halls have been air-conditioned, and all cars and chambers of judges too are air conditioned, why do we need summer vacation for the high court?

This was the question raised in a public interest writ petition filed in the Madras high court. Calling it a relic of colonial era and totally unwarranted because courts have been grappling with several lakhs of pending cases, the PIL filed by K Shyam Sundar, a practising advocate, wanted the high court to quash its own notification declaring summer recess from May 1 to June 2 (both days inclusive).

"The concept of summer vacation was introduced in high courts during the time when English judges were adorning the seats and they could not best the heat in summer...Nowadays, most of the superior courts are air-conditioned and the chambers and cars provided to judges are also air-conditioned. In view of the technological advancement, the custom of observing long summer vacations because of severe heat condition has lost its relevance," he said.

Pointing out that high courts functioned for only 210 days a year, the PIL said the impugned notification had restricted filing of only urgent cases and denied advocate's right to file other cases. He also said when subordinate civil and criminal cases functioned during most of the summer period, it is unfair to extend such a benefit to courts alone. The concept of summer vacation has not been provided for in the constitution of the rules of high court, he said, adding that without any basis of law it ought not to be given the high court, he said.

The matter is likely to be taken up for hearing on May 22.