After the pandemic of COVID-19 High Courts discontinued the video conference, But on Friday the Supreme Court took a stern view over this decision . A Bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud with justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra has observed that no High Courts or Judges shall not decline the request of video conferencing made by and lawyer or litigants every High Court must make available these services.
“No Judges shall decline a request for video conferencing, every High Court must make available video conferencing facilities. Do not tell me lawyers do not want it,” CJI Chandrachud observed.
The Supreme Court also directed the State government to provide all the necessary requirements and infrastructures within two months, it also added that wifi be also made available free of charge to advocates and litigants in the court premises.
It further ordered that the links for accessing the hybrid mode for hearing shall be made available in the causelists without prior applications of it. The Supreme Court also said that the High Courts will not impose any age requirements for accessing online hearing.
All high courts will comply with these directions within two months. They shall provide the lists of video conferencing licenses and infrastructure in place, including the northeastern region’s High Courts.
The CJI observed that apart from Justice Gautam Patel of the Bombay High Court, only few High Courts judges appeared by using this technology. “Why is it so retrograde in technology?” CJI said.
Written by- Anmol Kashyap
College name- City Law College
Semester- 3rd year 5th Semester an Intern under Legal Vidhiya
