India News | SC Agrees to Hear Plea for Complete Physical Hearings, Says SCBA, BCI to Take Call

New Delhi, Nov 24 (PTI) The Supreme Court Wednesday agreed to hear a plea of lawyers seeking resumption of full-fledged physical hearings in the apex court saying it is up to the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) and Bar Council of India (BCI) to take a call on the issue.

A bench of Justices L N Rao, B R Gavai and B V Nagarathna listed the intervention application along with other pending plea filed by another set of lawyers seeking continuance of virtual hearing claiming it to be a fundamental right.

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Advocate Smarhar Singh, appearing for the lawyers, said they are opposing the plea for virtual hearing.

Singh, who mentioned the matter, said that they are opposing the plea as lawyers with 10-15 years of practice feel more comfortable arguing in physical mode.

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The bench however said, “There are some lawyers who want virtual hearing and some want physical hearing. You must sort it out. The Courts are ready for physical hearing. Ultimately it is the SCBA and BCI which will have to take a call."

Singh said that speaking for himself he has 10-15 years of experience and he feels more comfortable arguing in physical mode, as there are no technical glitches and advocates can argue their cases looking at the judges.

The bench said it agreed with Singh's view as “courts also like when advocates make arguments before it” and directed the listing of the matter along with other pending matters.

Over 100 lawyers who mostly practice in the top court have sought its intervention for the resumption of complete physical hearing like it was done before the onset of COVID-19 pandemic in March last year.

The lawyers said that traditionally the administration of justice required hearing of the case in open court proceedings, and even provisions of CrPC require trial of all civil and criminal cases in open court.

They said that despite efforts made by the top court to return to its normal functioning by resumption of physical hearing, some motivated petitions are being filed to stall those attempts.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)