Kriti Agrawal –
Dr Justice DY Chandrachud, Chairperson of the Supreme Court E-Committee, has written to Chief Justice of all High Courts, stating that due to the covid-19 pandemic, it may not be possible to return to physical hearings for the time being, and Courts may have to rely on a hybrid model of hearing for some time.
Supreme Court Judge further authorized the High Courts to make video conferencing arrangements on whatever platform of their choice in his letter dated June 7.
In the case that there are any concerns with the current video conferencing application, the existing money will be re-appropriated, Justice Chandrachud stated in his letter.
The letter stated that, “Given the current pandemic scenario, and the need to safeguard the safety of lawyers, litigants, court employees, judges, and other stakeholders, it may not be viable to conduct only physical hearings of Court processes, and we may have to rely on a hybrid model of hearing for some time. We need to plan effectively to be able to deal with all emergencies.”
The letter also said that from March 2020 to April 2021, 96,74,257 cases were heard by High Courts and District Courts through video conference using the digital infrastructure provided by the e-Courts project.
According to the letter, the decision to authorize High Courts to use any video conferencing facility was made in response to concerns aired by advocates, bar associations, and litigants about the problems they had while participating in Court hearings through video conference.
The e-Committee explained that it is working on the details of implementing a single video conferencing solution for all Courts in India.
Meanwhile, High Courts may select an appropriate video conferencing solution from among those available until the e-Committee develops a single video conferencing solution for all Courts.