E-Paper
SC resumes physical hearings after 19 months
The corridors of the top court were crowded and bustling as lawyers returned to the premises after a year and seven months.
The Supreme Court on Thursday held physical hearings, on a limited scale, for the first time since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic last year, with Chief Justice of India (CJI) N V Ramana hinting that the top court may ramp up physical sessions after the Diwali break.
The corridors of the top court were crowded and bustling as lawyers returned to the premises after a year and seven months.
Expressing happiness over the resumption of physical hearings, Justice D Y Chandrachud said: “It is so good to see so many lawyers who bring joy and sunshine into this court intellectually. You cannot imagine how lonely it was to see the screen every day.”
In a fresh standard operating procedures (SOP) issued on October 7, the top court had said that all matters listed on Wednesdays and Thursdays would be heard in physical presence of lawyers and litigants in courtrooms only. Hearings on Mondays and Fridays, when fresh matters are usually taken up, will strictly be conducted on virtual mode.
The SOPs came into effect from Thursday.
“It is a pleasure to come to the court and argue. We had been missing it all this while. Today morning, I came to the court at 9.45, much before the court began at 10.30 to catch up with my friends and colleagues at the bar,” senior advocate Dushyant Dave said.
Speaking on similar lines, advocate Prashant Bhushan, after appearing for one of the cases, said: “We are happy that physical hearing of cases has begun.”
Advocate VK Biju, who was present in the court on Thursday, urged the judges to consider holding physical hearings on all days.
“Physical hearing of cases must resume. Junior lawyers have been suffering while seniors are not affected if virtual hearing continues,” Biju said.
To this, Justice Chandrachud said: “Let us hope that we keep seeing your faces physically.”
Advocate Biju’s concerns were also echoed by eminent jurist Fali S Nariman during an online lecture organised by the Indian Law Institute- Kerala chapter.
“If the health situation is good, we must resume physical hearings. I know several young advocates in the Supreme Court who are facing difficulties and are suffering,” he said.
While hearing a case, CJI Ramana suggested that the physical hearings are here to stay.
“After Diwali, we may start physical hearing on a large scale,” he said.
Another bench, led by Justice Rao, also told lawyers during the hearing of a case that physical hearing will be expanded after the Diwali break.
Later in the evening, the CJI held a meeting with a group of representatives from the Bar to discuss the October 7 SOPs after senior lawyers Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Manu Singhvi demanded that the virtual hearing facility be available even on Wednesday and Thursday.
Four other senior judges, Justices Uday U Lalit, AM Khanwilkar, Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud and L Nageswara Rao, were also present in the meeting, besides attorney general K K Venugopal, solicitor general Tushar Mehta, Bar Council of India chairman Manan Kumar Mishra, Supreme Court Bar Association president Vikas Singh, Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association (SCAoRA) president Shivaji Jadhav.
People familiar with the developments said the meeting culminated into the judges agreeing to modify the October 7 SOPs, considering the sensibilities of the request made by the senior lawyers.
“It has been decided that lawyers may make requests for hearing of their cases through virtual mode even on Wednesday and Thursday. The bench concerned may accede to such a quest after examining the reasons cited,” the people cited above told HT.
Meanwhile, the first day of the physical hearing witnessed several lapses in the implementation of the SOPs. For instance, social distancing was not maintained in the corridors and outside the court.
“I was in Court 5 where a reservation matter was being heard throughout the day. Nearly 40-50 lawyers were present in the courtroom, and nobody was asked to vacate for sanitizing the courtroom,” said advocate Sachin Patil, practising in the Supreme Court.
