The Supreme Court on Wednesday permitted the lawyers, who did not have a desktop or laptop, to attend the court proceedings through mobile phones.
The decision followed a virtual meeting of Chief Justice NV Ramana with the Executive Committee of the Supreme Court Bar Association and four senior-most judges of the Apex Court on Tuesday.
However, the CJI directed the members of the bar that mobile phones should be stationed and placed in such a manner that the face of the lawyer was visible and their voice was audible.
The SCBA said the CJI also assured that the oral mentioning is already available in all courts and in case any lawyer needs to mention any matter before any Bench, they may contact the court master in the morning.
This came a day after the CJI expressed resentment over lawyers attending the proceedings through mobile phones, leading to adjournment in some cases.
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The Bench of Chief Justice NV Ramana and Justice AS Bopanna and Justice Hima Kohli were unhappy on Monday since they had to adjourn hearings in as many as 10 cases due to poor audio or video from the advocates’ end during the hearing.
The Bench had said,
“These counsels appear through their mobile phones and they’re not visible. I think we have to ban this mobile business.”
A notification dated January 17 had advised the lawyers and litigants to join the virtual proceedings through a single device, either a laptop or a desktop.