Oral mentioning explained: why senior advocates can no longer ask the Supreme Court for urgent hearings

What is oral mentioning?

It is a lawyer’s request for a case to jump the queue. The Supreme Court hears thousands of cases, and most wait for their turn in a computer-generated list. When a lawyer believes a matter cannot wait, for example because a client is about to be arrested, evicted or have a house demolished, he or she can “mention” it: stand up when the bench assembles, usually first thing in the morning, and ask for an urgent or early hearing.

The bench, or in the Chief Justice’s court the Chief Justice, then decides whether to give a date. A minute at the start of the day can decide whether a petitioner gets relief this week or next month, which is why the practice matters so much and why it has been argued over for years.

What has changed from Monday?

Senior advocates can no longer do it before any bench. A circular dated 27 October and signed by three Registrars says that with effect from 2 November “no Senior Counsel shall be permitted to make oral mentioning before any Court”. Young and junior counsel, it says, “may, instead, be encouraged to make oral mentioning before the Courts.”

Senior advocates are lawyers whom the Supreme Court or a High Court has designated for their standing and experience. They argue cases, but they work alongside advocates-on-record, the lawyers entitled to file cases in the Supreme Court, and usually with juniors. The rule leaves the arguing to seniors and the asking to juniors.

Why keep seniors out?

To give younger lawyers a chance to be seen and heard. A mention is often a junior lawyer’s only moment in front of a Supreme Court bench, and when seniors take that slot, the juniors stand behind them. The change also means that a request for an early date reaches the bench without a well-known name attached to it, whoever the client can afford to hire.

When he announced the first version of the rule in August 2025, Chief Justice Gavai said: “There is a strong demand that senior counsel should not mention matters.” Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi welcomed the change, provided it applied equally to all senior lawyers.

Is this a new rule?

Not quite; it is the latest turn in a practice that has swung back and forth. Under Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna, oral mentioning was stopped and lawyers were asked to send emails or letters instead. B R Gavai brought it back after he was sworn in on 14 May 2025, and then, from 11 August, barred senior advocates from mentioning in his court.

How mentioning has changed

1. 14 May 2025B R Gavai sworn in as Chief Justice; restores oral mentioning stopped under Sanjiv Khanna
2. 11 Aug 2025Senior advocates barred from mentioning in the Chief Justice's court
3. 24 Nov 2025Surya Kant takes over and asks lawyers for written mentioning slips
4. 1 Dec 2025New circulars bar seniors from mentioning before any bench and list urgent categories automatically
5. 1 Jun 2026Vacation benches refuse mentions by senior advocates
6. 2 Nov 2026Fresh circular of 27 October takes effect: no senior counsel may mention before any court

Surya Kant, on his first day as Chief Justice on 24 November 2025, told lawyers: “If you have any urgent matters, give your mentioning slip along with the cause of urgency.” Oral requests, he said, would be heard only in extraordinary circumstances, such as cases involving personal liberty or a possible death sentence. Circulars issued days later, effective from 1 December 2025, already said senior counsel could not mention before any bench. Vacation benches refused mentions by senior advocates again in June this year.

The new circular does not say why the rule had to be restated, and it does not change the procedure for urgent listing.

How does a case get an urgent hearing now?

Many of the most urgent cases do not need a mention at all. Fresh petitions for regular or anticipatory bail, cancellation of bail, relief in death penalty cases, habeas corpus, protection from eviction, dispossession or demolition, and other urgent interim relief are listed automatically within two working days of being verified.

For anything else, the lawyer must file a mentioning proforma and a detailed letter explaining the urgency by 3 pm on the previous working day, or by 11:30 am on a Saturday. The mentioning officer checks the case and puts it before the Registrar (Judicial Listing), who takes directions from the Chief Justice. In exceptionally urgent cases the papers can go in before 10:30 am on the same day. Only matters on the mentioning list published the previous day may be mentioned orally in court.

What does it mean for litigants?

Very little changes on paper, but the face at the lectern does. A client who has hired a senior advocate will still have that lawyer argue the case. But the request for an early date will now come from a junior, and it will be judged on the urgency letter and the merits of the claim rather than on who is asking. Whether benches hold to that across the court, every morning, is what the bar will be watching from today.