Apex court's bar bodies urge SC to resume hearing of all matters

The resolution said that proper guidelines and due precautions, after thorough consultation from a committee of doctors, can be formulated for restricted entry into the apex court premises, wearing of masks and face shields, maintenance of highest sanitization standards, proper social distancing and so on so forth. “For hearing of cases where advocate are present in person all notified norms like social distancing, use of masks and due sanitization will be strictly followed.

The bar associations of the Supreme Court have urged the apex court to resume hearings of all class of matters, which has been restricted at present in view of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic situation. A resolution in this regard was passed by the associations and the copy of which has been sent to Chief Justice S A Bobde.

Hearing another petition, the top court on Wednesday ruled out the possibility of conducting physical hearings and said a seven-judges panel would review the situation after four weeks. The executive committees of Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) and Supreme Court Advocate-On-Record Association (SCAORA), said in a resolution that the hearings should be conducted inside court hall with advocates presenting their case. "Initially hearing can be hybrid i.e. both online and in the physical presence of the Judges and the Advocates," a resolution adopted by SCBA and SCAORA on July 20, said.

It said that the members of the bar were of the view that it was in the interest of the judiciary to physically re-open with precautions just like all other work places including Parliament, airports, offices, shopping centers, police prickets, hospitals have resumed working. It said that given that the country was in the process of emerging from a complete lockdown, it has become imperative to resume the physical functioning of the SC in a phased and regulated manner. "The physical functioning of the Court be resumed for hearing fresh, admission, after notice matters, part-heard matters, regular matters, final disposal matters, batch matters and such other matters which are voluminous in nature and/or involve the appearance of a large number of lawyers.

"Virtual hearing may be afforded only to chamber matters and registrar court matters," it said. The resolution said that proper guidelines and due precautions, after thorough consultation from a committee of doctors, can be formulated for restricted entry into the apex court premises, wearing of masks and face shields, maintenance of highest sanitization standards, proper social distancing and so on so forth.

"For hearing of cases where advocate are present in person all notified norms like social distancing, use of masks and due sanitization will be strictly followed. "Entry to the court can be restricted only to lawyers of the matters listed, at the entry point of high security zone itself. Litigants and Clerks may not be allowed to the high security zone but for exceptional reasons/ occasions," it said.

The resolution said that majority of lawyers were unable to present their cases effectively on the virtual platform presently available. "In matters involving appearances by many lawyers, several lawyers are not given an opportunity to speak and, at times, their mics are put on mute by the coordinator, and consequently, their matters have been dealt with by the Supreme Court in their absence. "There are problems with audio and video quality of hearings, which often results in the lawyers not being able to present their arguments," it said. It said that since the working of the Supreme Court lays down the parameters for the subordinate courts, the limited functioning of the apex court has adversely impacted the dispensation of justice. "While the litigants continue to suffer, the lawyers, who are the officers of the court, are also facing acute hardships," it said.