Munmun Kaur
Published On: January 03, 2022 at 12:17 IST
In view of the rising number of COVID-19 cases, Supreme Court has decided to hold its hearing of cases through virtual mode for two weeks, starting from January 03, 2022. Although, after two weeks, the situation will be reviewed again and a further course of action will be decided upon.
A circular to that effect was published by the Supreme Court on January 02. The Apex Court is opening on January 03 after its winter break. The circular issued also informed about the suspension of the standard operating procedure (SOP) of October 07, 2021, as per which virtual hearings were being held only on miscellaneous days i.e. Mondays and Fridays whereas physical hearings were being held on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.
The spike in the rising number of cases of Omicron variant has necessitated such a step be taken. Various High Courts have already switched to virtual or hybrid hearing of cases.
The Calcutta High Court decided to hear the cases in virtual mode from January 03, 2022. The principal seat of Bombay High Court has decided to hear the matters in hybrid mode from January 04, 2022. On December 30, 2022, the Delhi High Court also decided to revert to full virtual hearing of cases from January 03, 2022, onwards.
In contrast to this, the Madras High Court has decided to revert to full physical hearing of cases from January 03, 2022.