Hybrid hearings SOP: Bar Council of India requests SCBA to avoid march to India Gate, urges CJI Bobde to call meeting

The Bar Council of India has requested the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) to avoid the protest to be held on Thursday evening and requested the Chief Justice of India to convene a meeting with the SCBA and the Supreme Court Advocates On Record Association (SCAORA) to resolve the issue amicably.

On Thursday, Manan Kumar Mishra, the Chairman of the Bar Council of India, sent a letter to the SCBA President Vikas Singh, Vice-President Pradeep Rai and Secretary Ardhendumauli Kumar Prasad along with other members to take all possible and positive steps to resolve the physical-hybrid hearing issue with the Supreme Court amicably.

Mishra through this letter has also requested Hon’ble Chief Justice of India S.A. Bobde to convene the meeting of 7-Judges Committee, place this letter before the same for immediate and necessary actions in the matter and also invite the representatives of SCBA and SCAORA to attend and be given ample opportunity to place their view on the SOPs on the very opening day after Holi.

The BCI Chairman has addressed the respected members of the association and extended his concern regarding the problems faced by lawyers for the past 12-13 months. He acknowledged the fact that the BCI has made it clear that nothing less than physical hearings is acceptable to the lawyers of the country.

The Council has opposed even the concept of hybrid mode of hearings but at the same time, the Chairman has requested the SCBA and its members to consider the factual and practical aspects of the protest as well in the midst of increasing cases of coronavirus at alarming rates.

The Chairman through his letter has apprised the legal fraternity about the far reaching consequences and irreparable damages which could be caused due to any call for protest. He has also mentioned the dirty portrayal highlighted by the media in relation to the arguments made by Vikas Singh, SCBA President before the Supreme Court.

Read Also: Jaypee Infratech insolvency case: Apex Court sets 45-day deadline for proceedings

The Chairman has also mentioned the impact of SCBA President’s call and how it could elevate the possibility of protest(s) in future by other associations of the country and also the manner in which social media(s) waits for such occasions to pervade different institutions and malign their public image.

“Bar and Bench, both have equal importance. They are the two sides of the same coin. Neither of them should forget it. Bar shouldn’t be ignored in such matters,” stated the letter.