The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Registrar Generals of State High Courts to inform it whether the hybrid system of court hearings, which allows litigants and lawyers to appear either physically or virtually, is continuing or not.
Besides the High Courts, a three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud issued notice to the Registrars of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal, the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission and the National Green Tribunal to file affidavits on the status of their virtual hearing facilities.
The Bench gave the High Courts and Tribunals two weeks to file their affidavits. The top court said the Registrars had to clearly state whether the hybrid mode of hearing had been disbanded or continued to be allowed.
The order was passed on the basis of a petition filed by Sarvesh Mathur, who complained that the Punjab and Haryana High Court stopped virtual hearings last year though the necessary infrastructure was installed during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Mr. Mathur said the last time video conferencing was held was during the pandemic.
The Chief Justice said Mr. Mathur ‘s petition had provided the Supreme Court with a platform to check on the High Courts and pass necessary judicial orders.
“You have given us a platform, we have been thinking of issuing orders,” Chief Justice Chandrachud said.
In February, Chief Justice Chandrachud said virtual court technology was here to stay “now and forever” and Chief Justices of High Courts, who have shut down online court hearings post the pandemic, were duty-bound to “fall in line and come on board”.
In a hearing, the Chief Justice had said in court that he was “really disturbed” by the attitude of certain High Court Chief Justices who were disbanding technological infrastructure created by using public money.
The CJI said judges could not just switch off the cameras and mics and insist on the physical presence of lawyers and litigants.
“The problem lies when you have some Chief Justices who are technologically friendly and others who think the other way… I am going to ensure that everybody is online. There is now no question of ‘I like technology and I don’t’ any more than saying ‘I will use cell phones and I will not’. Everybody uses cell phones. You better use it too… This infrastructure for virtual courts is provided using public funds. I think all the Chief Justices of High Courts need to learn that they have to be on board and there are no exceptions,” a visibly annoyed Chief Justice Chandrachud had admonished.
The top judge’s comments were made in response to submissions by some lawyers that certain High Courts just switched off their cameras and mics during hearings, ignoring the infrastructure made available to them.
