New Delhi: The impact of Corona in India is currently very less. There is a steady decline in Kovid cases down. In view of this, the government has removed most of the corona restrictions from 31 March. In view of this, the Supreme Court has also taken a big decision. Now from Monday, April 4, a physical hearing i.e. direct hearing will start in the biggest court in the country. Announcing this, Chief Justice NV Ramana said that if the lawyers request in advance, they can be given the option of hearing through video conferencing on Monday and Friday.
Direct hearing after 742 days
This opportunity will come in the Supreme Court after 742 days when the lawyer and the plaintiff will be able to fight their case by appearing in court. The lockdown was imposed for the first time in the country on 24 March 2020 due to the Corona epidemic. Since then the Supreme Court has been working in virtual mode. However, some physical hearings were later allowed. In view of the Corona epidemic, the Supreme Court had decided to hear in virtual and hybrid mode. In October 2021, the Supreme Court had started a partial physical hearing. There was a direct hearing on Wednesday-Thursday and a virtual hearing on Monday-Friday. In view of the Corona cases, the hearing started completely in virtual mode on 7 January 2022. After this, the physical hearing was also started two days a week from 14 February.
Decisions were taken in the meeting of judges
In view of the constant demand of lawyers and litigants, senior judges of the Supreme Court have decided to start a direct hearing. A meeting of Chief Justice Ramana, Justice UU Lalit, AN Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud, and LN Rao was held on Wednesday regarding this. Ever since the second wave of Corona weakened, the Supreme Court Bar Association was demanding that the doors of the court should be opened for direct hearing. He said that even though some big lawyers are benefiting from virtual hearings, it has become a big problem for most small lawyers and new beginning lawyers. They are not getting work.
Senior lawyers benefit from virtual hearings
If seen, the virtual hearing has proved to be a profitable deal for big lawyers. They do not have to appear directly in court for the hearing. Sitting from home, he is able to appear in many cases in both the Supreme Court and the High Court in a single day. A senior advocate told TOI that the virtual hearing has benefited him financially as well. His income has doubled because he does not have to travel anywhere and he is presenting arguments in many cases in a virtual way.
