Adjournments As The Silent Saboteur: How Order XVII Transforms Justice Into Delay In India
- IJLLR Journal
- Oct 15
- 1 min read
Swara Mehta, Institute of Law, Nirma University
Vasavi Trivedi, Lloyd Law College
ABSTRACT
What if the greatest threat to justice in India is not the absence of law, but a tool buried within its procedural mandate? Imagine a legal provision, designed to ensure fairness and provide a systematic mechanism, is designed to create delays, backlog and profound disillusionment. This is not a hypothetical scenario, but it’s a startling reality of the adjournment culture entrenched within the Indian judiciary. This article explores Order XVII of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, the rule governing adjournments, and takes a view of its saboteur nature, arguing that what was conceived as a narrow exception for granting fairness has been transformed into a routine tool for perpetuating inefficiency, eroding public trust, and denying timely justice. Adopting a proactive approach, the analysis moves beyond conventional explanations like judicial vacancies to critically examine the ingrained procedural pattern adopted my courts and tribunals alike. Further, the article explores judicial apathy, the Bar’s tactics, and the failure to enforce existing legal provisions, revealing a significant gap between legislative intent and ground reality.
Ultimately, the article closes by addressing the need to resolve this pendency crisis, which requires more than a legislative amendment; it demands a profound cultural shift within the legislative ecosystem. It concludes with a suite of a proactive recommendations aimed at strict enforcement, meaningful deterrence, and technological integration to restore adjournments to their original purpose: a shield for fairness, not a sword against justice itself.
Keywords: Adjournment, Delay, Judicial inefficiency, Order XVII, The Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.
