It will consider request of parties to join proceedings via videoconferencing in exceptional cases
The Delhi High Court will on Monday resume full physical hearing of all its Benches a year after it started restricted functioning of courts due to the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic.
Apart from full physical hearing, the High Court will also consider request of parties to join the court proceedings through videoconferencing in “exceptional cases”.
This hybrid form of hearing is one, where some of the parties or their counsels may be physically present in the courtroom when the matter is taken up by the court for hearing, while others may participate through the online mode.
Judges’ discretion
“As to what would constitute exceptional cases, would have to be left to the discretion of the Judge/Judges before whom the cases are listed, and before whom the request for videoconference hearing is made,” the High Court said.
The High Court also said it would be appropriate that such a request is permitted to be made at least one working day in advance, so that it is considered by the Judges and a decision is communicated to the counsel and parties well in advance.
The senior counsels appearing for Delhi High Court Bar Association, Bar Council of Delhi and Co-ordination Committee of All District Bar Association have supported the full-fledged resumption of physical hearing from Monday and have also supported the decision that the hybrid system of hearing should be permitted only in “exceptional cases”.
After the imposition of the first nationwide lockdown, the court had started conducting hearings through video conferencing from March 24 last year to contain the spread of the virus.
Over five months later, the High Court resumed physical hearing of courts proceedings initially with five of its Benches on a rotation basis from September 1. The number of Benches conducting physical hearing was increased gradually.
“Considering the fact that the number of COVID-19 cases has declined considerably, and more and more services and facilities have been opened in the last few months, including schools, colleges, cinema halls, gymnasiums, swimming pools etc.; it is high time that the courts should also resume physical hearing,” a Bench of Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Rekha Palli said.
“A beginning has to be made and the fear that has gripped people, including the advocates, has to be shaken off. It also appears to us that some amount of complacency has crept in, and a large number of people have found comfort in working from home, and do not wish to get out of their comfort zone,” the Bench said.
“At the same time, there can be no denial to the fact that with an increase in intermingling and congression of people, there is a possibility of a spike in the number of COVID-19 cases,” it remarked.
As far as district courts here are concerned, since the infrastructure to put hybrid form of hearing is not in place, a similar arrangement cannot be directed for the district ccourt for the time being, the High Court said.
