The Chief Justice of India, NV Ramana on Monday directed the court staff to inform the lawyers to appear through laptops or desktop and not through mobile phones during virtual hearings or other official works due to audio-visual problems. The lawyers attending the virtual hearings through their mobile phones, makes it difficult for the bench to hear or see them due to some audio-visual issues.
“What is the problem? You are now practising in Supreme Court, everyday you appear. You can’t afford to have a desktop at least? These counsels appear through their mobile phones and they’re not visible. I think we have to ban this mobile business.”
Since the morning, lawyers attending the virtual hearings created disturbances during the hearing. In another case, when the audio of the counsel wasn’t clear, CJI Ramana asked the counsel to use computer instead of mobile phone.
“The problem is, you are a regular practicing advocate, you can use your computer, you are using your mobile.”
Consequently in another virtual hearing, same problem occurred. CJI said that the entire bench is exhausted since the morning.
“This has been happening since morning itself, we are exhausted in 10 cases. Please understand, lawyers practicing in Supreme Court, High Court, what’s the problem? Why can’t you use an IPad, laptop, desktop or something? I can understand Lower courts lawyers using this mobile phone.”
He then directed the Court staff to tell the counsels to use desktops for virtual hearings.
“You please ask counsels to use laptops or desktops and not mobile phones. We are facing a lot of problems. Don’t disconnect but tell them there’s a problem in hearing through mobile phones.”
The Supreme Court had shifted the courts to virtual mode of hearing due to rising number of Covid-19 cases. The bench has been hearing all the matters in virtual mode from 7th January.
The hearings of court have gone virtual nowadays due to the prevalent Covid-19 pandemic. The hybrid arrangements allow some-in-person court participation, but many problems persist. For example, case backlogs, already large before the pandemic, continue to grow, evidence sharing and storing of digital files are often a logistical hassle also low-income citizens don’t always have access to computers or a reliable internet connection.
Technology can’t solve all the problems but a more resilient, responsive court system that works for the Indian public can be created with the help of technology. The pesistence of the pandemic is a tragedy, of course, but it can also be viewed as the much needed push to make the courts more flexible and future-proof justice systems that works efficiently for each and every citizen of the country.