Court Officers to Reject Adjournment Slips Without Explanation, Says Delhi HC
The Delhi High Court has ruled that adjournment requests submitted without mentioning valid reasons will no longer be accepted by court officers. The decision came while hearing the case Lava International Ltd v. Dolby International AB & Anr., where Dolby International sought an adjournment citing that its counsel was travelling.
However, the Court noted that this reason was not mentioned in the adjournment slip—the written form used to request a new hearing date. Expressing concern, the Bench of Justice C Hari Shankar and Justice Om Prakash Shukla observed that the current adjournment slip format lacked a column for specifying reasons.
“We are surprised to note that the format of the adjournment slips does not have a column for stating the reason for adjournment. This is unacceptable,” the Court remarked.
The Bench has now directed that adjournment slips without stated reasons will not be accepted by the Court Masters. The Registry has also been instructed to issue a revised adjournment slip format, which must include a dedicated column where counsel or litigants must clearly mention the reason for seeking adjournment.
Despite being dissatisfied with Dolby’s adjournment request, the Court, as a matter of indulgence, allowed the case to be re-listed for another date.
Advocates Ashok K Aggarwal, Gaurika Sood, and Nirmit Jadwani appeared for Lava International, while Advocates Mohd Affan, Devanshu Khanna, Swarnil Dey, and Yagya Passi represented Dolby International.
