What does S/8 mean on the display board?

Item 8 of the supplementary list. The S prefix names the stream; the number is that stream’s own item number.

What does VACANT mean on the board?

That no Court is sitting there.

Can I work out how long until my matter is called?

Not from the board alone, and not at all across two streams. The board says which item is being taken now, and the Court asks that the exact status be confirmed with the concerned Court.

The Jharkhand High Court display board, and what S/8 and D/52 mean

Short answer

The Jharkhand High Court publishes a live display board on its website showing, for each Court, the item currently being taken. A value like S/8 means item 8 of the supplementary stream; D/52 means item 52 of the daily stream. The two are separate sequences, so a board on S/8 tells you nothing numeric about a matter listed at D/12.

Reviewed against the official sources on 3 September 2026

What the board shows

The board is a public page on the Court’s own website. It carries an official Last updated timestamp and a state for each Court. It was verified on 7 August 2026 to show both — the timestamp and the per-Court state — and that timestamp is part of the information, not decoration: a board without a recent update time is a board you cannot rely on.

The prefix is not decoration

A board item is not just a number. Values observed on 7 August 2026 included S/8, D/52, D/42 and S/6. The letter says which list the item belongs to: S is the supplementary stream, D is the daily stream. Each has its own item numbering, counted from its own item one.

This is why the board cannot be read as a countdown across the two. If the Court is on S/8 and your matter is at D/12, it is not four items away. The honest reading is that the Court is currently taking the supplementary list and your matter is in the daily list, which follows in the sequence currently known. A number can only be given when the two items are in the same stream.

The states are more than a number

A Court on the board is not always on an item. The states published include the following, and each of them is a different fact about the day.

In Progress — the Court is sitting and taking the item shown.
Not in session — the Court is not sitting at this moment.
VACANT — no Court is sitting there.
SITTING IN COURT NO. 3 (DB) — the bench is sitting elsewhere, and the matter follows the bench.
Presence Required of Learned Counsel — the Court is asking for counsel by name.

What the Court itself warns

The official page carries its own warning: transmission over the internet may have a time gap, and the exact status should be confirmed with the concerned Court. That warning is the Court’s, and it is the correct way to treat any live board — including anything an app shows you from it.

What Johar Justice does with this

Johar Justice keeps the Court’s own board states and its own timestamp rather than reducing the board to one number, and it will not do arithmetic across two streams. When the board is behind, it says the board is behind. When your matter appears on a readable board, that is one of the things it alerts you about.

Common questions

What does S/8 mean on the display board?: Item 8 of the supplementary list. The S prefix names the stream; the number is that stream’s own item number.
What does VACANT mean on the board?: That no Court is sitting there.
Can I work out how long until my matter is called?: Not from the board alone, and not at all across two streams. The board says which item is being taken now, and the Court asks that the exact status be confirmed with the concerned Court.