Work-Life Balance Debate Resurfaces After Supreme Court Judge Advises Young Lawyers To Work On Sundays: Report

(MENAFN- Live Mint) The work-life balance debate has once again come to the fore after Supreme Court judge Aravind Kumar, on Saturday, urged young lawyers to refrain from taking weekends off during the initial phase of their careers. He asserted that commitment to one's profession is essential and that capping working hours may not help achieve long-term goals.

“You should be wedded to your profession, and only when you dedicate yourself to what you are doing will the results be encouraging,” Justice Kumar said, according to a report in Bar and Bench.

'No holidays in our time,' says Justice Kumar

“I appeal to all youngsters-this is what I have seen in Delhi, Mumbai, and Kolkata-Sundays are non-working, and Saturday evenings are taken off. In Bangalore, we had no holidays,” he said.

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Addressing the 5th Edition of the ICA International Conference, the judge emphasised that dedication is key to career growth, cautioning that shorter working hours may limit learning and experience.

Shares personal experience from early career

Drawing from his own journey, Justice Kumar noted that his early years at the Bar involved working through Saturdays and Sundays.

“In Bangalore, we had no holidays. The only holiday was Sunday, and even then, we worked until 4:30 pm. Otherwise, we were always working... the earliest we left was 11:30 pm, and sometimes as late as 1:30 am,” he said.

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He also recalled attending court proceedings shortly after his wedding.“You got married the day before yesterday, and you are here,” he said.

Explaining his decision, he added,“I did not want to lose the flow of reasoning... I wanted to learn.”

Remarks spark work-life balance debate online

The judge's remarks reignited the work-life balance debat on social media, with several X users drawing parallels to Infosys founder Narayana Murthy, who had earlier advocated 70-hour work weeks for nation-building, triggering widespread backlash.

More recently, in 2025, Larsen & Toubro chairman SN Subrahmanyan stirred controversy with his remarks on extended work hours. During an employee interaction, when asked why the multi-billion-dollar conglomerate still required employees to work on Saturdays, he said,“I regret I am not able to make you work on Sundays. If I could, I would be happier, because I work on Sundays.”

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Meanwhile, Serum Institute CEO Adar Poonawalla has consistently maintained that“eight hours a day is enough” for work.

“I would say I work eight hours a day-sometimes on weekends, if needed. There may be days when I go slope skiing; it depends. There have also been times when I've worked 16 hours a day. During Covid-19, I was returning home at 11 pm. So, it all depends on the journey and the stage you are at.

If you are an entrepreneur building your business, you absolutely should work hard and do whatever it takes. After that, at the senior level, it is about the quality of work-working smart and strategically,” Poonawalla said last year.

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