Bombay high court not keen to resume physical court till coronavirus outbreak continues

Source: Hindustan Times

-- K A Y Dodhiya

The Bombay high court (HC) administration held a meeting presided by the chief justice and senior judges, to decide on various presentations by senior advocates and lawyers. seeking resumption of regular court and conducting physical hearings. According to members of bar associations who attended the meeting, the administration was firm in its decision that till the Covid-19 pandemic continues, physical hearings cannot be held.

In light of the onset of monsoon and denial of physical hearings, the member said that the court administration observed that it should first work out the modalities of commencing court work in a phase-wise manner.

The meeting was attended by the additional solicitor general, advocate general, and representatives of various bar associations.

According to another member of a bar association who was in attendance, the meeting centered around two major issues – having physical hearings in the HC and physical hearing in courts other than the HC.

Advocate general Ashutosh Kumbhakoni apprised the attendees about the demarcation of red, orange and green zones by the government depending on the existence of infected cases, and said that a decision regarding physical hearings would be possible only after the state government updated the list later in the evening.

The member further said that the meeting also discussed improving the quality of video conferencing wherein it was suggested to permit call conferencing if video conferencing quality was not good. However, the administrative judges did not show any inclination towards this idea.

A request was also made to increase the number of days when the court worked and the number of judges assigned to hear cases on these days.

According to the bar association member, the administrative judges said that in the current pandemic situation, allowing physical hearings would not be possible but a decision on permitting the same in courts in green zones, and other issues, would be taken only after there was clarity from the government. The decision is likely to be announced on Tuesday.