Mitali Palnitkar
Published on: March 1, 2022 at 18:26 IST
Following the directions of the Delhi High Court, the District Courts in Delhi were directed to keep their Videoconferencing Link open during the sitting hours of the Court.
The directions were issued through Circular dated February 28, 2022 by Girish Kathpalia, the Principal District and Sessions Judge. The directions were issued to ensure smooth functioning of the Court through virtual mode.
A Division Bench of Delhi High Court in its Order dated January 20, 2022 said that it expected the Judicial Officers of District and Sessions Court to follow the Order passed by it with respect to holding virtual and hybrid Hearings in letter and spirit.
It had further said that the web links shall be kept open by all such Courts on every working day during the sitting hours so that any party or Counsel to the Case could join the Proceedings virtually without any ‘Prior Intimation.’
In the Circular, it was mentioned that some of the District Courts did not adhere to the directions in relation to virtual and hybrid hearing causing undue hardship to Lawyers, Litigants and other Stakeholders.
The District Courts are directed to use CISCO Webex Licenses exclusively for Court Proceedings and/or Administrative work during Office hours from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm followed by extended administrative work up to 8:00 pm and not after that except in unavoidable circumstances with written permission of the concerned Presiding Officer.
The Reader of Court and In-charge of respective Branch shall not share password with anyone (with certain exceptions) and shall be personally responsible for unofficial use of license.
The Videoconferencing Link shall be kept open by the Reader during the sitting hours from 10:00 am to 4:30 pm at least.
It shall be ensured that the video camera of the Presiding Officer is switched on when the Court Proceedings are being held through Videoconferencing. Also, the Videoconferencing shall not be recorded without the permission of the Presiding Officer concerned.
The technical issued while using CISCO Webex shall be communicated to the persons nominated on behalf of the service provider. The Computer Branch shall be communicated in case of a hardware problem.
The Court stated that non-compliance with the issued directions will be viewed seriously. As per Rules, Disciplinary Proceedings shall be initiated against the erring Official.
Also Read: Delhi HC: District Courts obliged to follow Directions on Hybrid Hearings