The practice that Supreme Court has been following for the last eight years for limiting its summer vacation to seven weeks, has been formally made a rule.
The rule notified in the gazette said, "the period of the summer vacation shall not exceed seven weeks".
The official gazette notification comes at a time when Chief Justice of India R M Lodha has been proposing to make the apex court functional throughout the year.
The new Supreme Court rule also said, "the length of the summer vacation of the Court and the number of holidays for the Court and the offices of the Court shall be such as may be fixed by the Chief Justice and notified in the Official Gazette so as not to exceed one hundred and three days (excluding Sundays not falling in the vacation and during holidays)".
The notification says the Court shall sit in two terms annually, the first commencing from the termination of the summer vacation and ending with the day immediately preceding such day in December as the Court may fix for the commencement of the Christmas and New Year holidays and the second commencing from the termination of the Christmas and New Year holidays and ending with the commencement of the summer vacation.
Summer vacation used to be of eight weeks from the year 2000 to 2006 but later on the period was reduced to seven weeks.
