The Punjab and Haryana Bar Council has passed a resolution for opening of physical Courts in the High Court as well as the subordinate Courts.
The Council has also sent a memorandum to the Punjab and Haryana High Court requesting the Court to resume physical functioning of Courts after the relaxations announce by the Government.
The Council has stated that the present system of virtual court is unable to serve proper justice, hence resumption of physical court at the earliest is the only solution to proper delivery of justice to the litigants.
The Council has further stated that hearing through the mode of Video Conferencing had its own limitations and cannot be equated with the physical functioning of Courts. Moreover despite best efforts the courts were not being able to list even the urgent matters.
The Council has also stated that the need to restart physical functioning of Courts in Punjab and Haryana has been felt in view of the directions issued by the Government on June 1 relaxing the restrictions on the movement of individuals.
The Council has suggested that the filing of cases should be allowed through the mode of e filing as well as physical filing. The Council further suggested that after June 8, 20 more courts should be allowed to function normally along with the virtual Courts since the summer vacation has been cancelled, hence the period can be utilized to hear the pending cases.
The Council has also stated that if the request for resuming physical functioning of Courts will not be considered then the Council would resort taking the path of agitation since the lawyers were facing financial hardship in view of limited functioning of courts.
-India Legal Bureau