May 12 (AZINS) The Supreme Court has notified the benches it has formed to hear cases during the court's summer vacations, which will start on Monday, May 13, and go on till June 30. Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi will preside over the vacation bench's most critical period between May 25 and May 30, when in the days following the Lok Sabha election results, petitions are expected to be filed and disputes may arise over government formation.

This is an unprecedented development, because though a vacation bench is formed every year at the apex court, the Chief Justice does not preside over it. But this year, CJI Gogoi will preside with Justice MR Shah for six days in the last week of May.

During the first part of the break, from May 13 to May 20, justices Indira Banerjee and Sanjiv Khanna will hear cases, while from May 21 to May 24, it will be justices Arun Mishra and MR Shah. In the second part of the vacation bench between, May 31 and June 2, Justice Shah will be joined by Justice L Nageswara Rao. Justices Indu Malhotra and Shah will hear cases between June 3 and June 5, while justices Indira Banerjee and Ajay Rastogi will preside between June 6 and June 13.

Benches for the third part of the vacation, from June 14 to June 30, will be notified later. The apex court will reopen on July 2.

Under the Supreme Court Rules, 2013, the Chief Justice of India can nominate judges to the vacation bench of the court, which is meant to hear miscellaneous matters and regular hearing matters while the summer break is on.

Working Vacation

Though a vacation bench is formed every year, the Chief Justice does not usually preside over it. This time, however, given the possibility of petitions regarding govt formation, CJI Gogoi will himself preside over it for one week.