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Lawyers’ associations demand reopening of courts
The Bar Council of India (BCI), the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association (SCAORA) and the Gujarat High Court Advocates Association (GHCAA) have urged chief justices of HCs and the SC to resume physical hearings.
Several lawyers’ bodies have started pressuring the chief justices of high courts (HCs) and the Supreme Court (SC) to revert to normal physical court hearings citing an acute financial crunch and other difficulties being faced by lawyers due to the restricted functioning of courts because of the nationwide lockdown that was imposed by the central government from March 25 to contain the spread of the raging coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak.
The Bar Council of India (BCI), the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association (SCAORA) and the Gujarat High Court Advocates Association (GHCAA) have urged chief justices of HCs and the SC to resume physical hearings.
Courts have been hearing only urgent matters through the video-conferencing facility, which have led to a growing pendency of cases in an overburdened higher judiciary. Lockdown restrictions have hit the legal profession hard and many lawyers are struggling to make both ends meet.
Senior advocate Yatin Oza highlighted an incident from Gujarat to bolster his argument about the financial struggles being faced by lawyers due to the prevailing lockdown restrictions.
Oza, who quit as the president of the Gujarat High Court Advocates’ Association (GHCAA) on Tuesday following differences within the managing committee of the association, ciated in his resignation letter that when he recently placed an order for food from Swiggy, an online food ordering and delivering platform, the delivery person turned out to be a lawyer, who used to practice in the Gujarat HC.
“Over 700 junior lawyers have expressed their financial woes to me,” Oza said.
The GHCAA had conducted a referendum to arrive at a consensus on whether they should petition the chief justice for resuming physical hearings.
In the referendum, over 64 percent of the respondents had voted in favour of the resumption of physical hearings. The GHCCA’s vice-president and joint secretary were at odds with the members of the managing committee and requested the chief justice to persist with the ongoing video-conferencing facility.
This led to Oza’s resignation on Tuesday even though he withdrew it later in the day after the Bar members pressured him to stay on.
Oza told HT that he is in favour of the resumption of physical court hearings.
“If judges want to continue with the virtual court, they should sit five days in a week with all the judges attending as per the roster. The judges should adhere to the normal court timings. There cannot be five judges, who’re hearing only four categories of cases,” Oza said.
There has been a drastic reduction in the cases heard by courts, including the SC, since the video-conferencing facility was introduced in end-March because of the nationwide lockdown restrictions.
For instance, the apex court heard only 835 cases between March 23 and May 1. While on a normal working day, the SC hears around 800 cases. The HCs, too, are grappling with a growing pendency of cases.
“The pendency of cases is running into lakhs. People are waiting for justice for at least a decade. The Gujarat HC hears only five types of cases through the video-conferencing facility. Many advocates are waiting for weeks to get their cases listed,” Oza said.
The BCI had also appealed to courts to revert to physical court hearings citing the difficulties being faced by a majority of lawyers, who do not have access to technology.
On May 26, the BCI chairperson wrote a letter to the Chief Justice of India (CJI) SA Bobde and alleged that only a handful of privileged advocates have been able to utilise the benefit of hearings conducted via the video-conference facility. On Tuesday, the SCAORA wrote a similar letter to the CJI.
Shivaji M Jadhav, president, SCAORA, wrote in the letter that around 95% of the lawyers are not comfortable with virtual court hearings since they are a major deterrent to argue cases effectively before a bench.
The SCAORA, which is the body of lawyers eligible to file cases in the SC, urged the CJI to commence physical court hearings from July. Jadhav exuded confidence about the SC acceding to their plea.
“It’s uncertain at this point in time when the pandemic will end and we’ve no option but to live with the viral outbreak. The SC should resume physical hearings from July because many lawyers are suffering. I know that it’s a risky proposition but the apex court still has one month to ensure that adequate arrangements are made and precautions are taken before it reopens,” Jadhav told HT.
Advocate Mukund P Unny, a young lawyer practicing in Delhi courts, had a counter-point to resume physical court hearings.
“It’s true that the livelihood of many lawyers has been affected. However, the resumption of physical hearings may aggravate the problem. For instance, a judge at a Rohini court, tested Covid-19 positive on Wednesday. Courts can become hotspots. Perhaps, the video-conferencing facility can be ramped up and all the cases can be heard and not just urgent matters,” said Unny.
