India News | SC Emerged as World Leader in Virtual Hearings Amid Lockdown: Govt

New Delhi Feb 4 (PTI) The Supreme Court held over 1.81 lakh hearings since the beginning of the coronavirus-triggered lockdown till last month, making it the "world leader" in virtual hearings, Lok Sabha was informed on Friday.

In reply to a written question, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said video-conferencing emerged as the mainstay of the courts during the Covid lockdown period as physical hearings and normal court proceedings in the congregational mode were not possible.

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Since the Covid lockdown started on March 25, 2020, the district courts heard 1,08,36,087 cases while the high courts heard 57,39,966 cases (totalling 1.65 crore) till November 30, 2021 using video-conferencing only, he said.

"The Supreme Court held 1,81,909 hearings till January 8, 2022 since the beginning of lockdown period, making it the world leader in video conferencing hearings," he said.

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One video conference equipment each has been provided to all court complexes, including taluk-level courts, and additionally, funds have been sanctioned for additional VC equipment for 14,443 court rooms, he said.

(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)