Ahmedabad: In a fresh move to clear long-pending cases, the Gujarat High Court has announced that it will begin conducting judicial proceedings on working Saturdays, starting from July through October 2025. This comes after the court earlier reserved Wednesdays exclusively to hear the 100 oldest cases.

The High Court has formed 12 special benches, nine division benches and three single-judge benches, that will function on Saturdays when the court registry is operational, following the central government calendar. These benches will primarily hear criminal appeals that have been pending for over 10 years, including cases where convicts have been in jail for more than a decade. Official data reveals that 5,627 such criminal appeals are still pending, with 323 cases dating back over 25 years.

As per a notification issued on Thursday by the HC registrar (judicial), these special benches will take up old appeals even if they are currently scheduled for another day. Their listing will be adjusted, either advanced or postponed depending on court scheduling. However, the notification clarifies that the 100 oldest matters being heard every Wednesday under the ‘Wednesday Weekly List’ will not be part of the Saturday hearings. DeshGujarat