Due to the rise in the Covid-19 infections in the NCR and decreasing footfall ,the Supreme Court has decided to continue the hybrid mode of hearing for some more time.
The Chief Justice of India NV Ramana has been pleased to request the hybrid mode of hearing to be continued till further notice.
On Monday, a batch of petitions seeking declarations of virtual hearing as a Fundamental Rights was presented before the Court ,where the court allowed the impleadment of High Courts that have stopped virtual hearing.
A Bench comprising Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and Sudhanshu Dhulia was told that some High Courts which includes High Court of Gujarat and that of Madhya Pradesh, were not allowing requests for virtual hearing and sought permission to implead them to the present proceeding.
It was submitted that last year in August, the Uttarakhand High Court was the first to stop virtual hearing completely. Later the other courts followed the course.
“It started with the Uttarakhand High Court last Aug, it stopped virtual courts completely and like a cascading effect all HCs have stopped barring few.”
The bench was requested to consider the application pertaining to virtual hearing before the High Courts at priority, which court decided to.