The Supreme Court gave High Courts two weeks to get their video conferencing and hybrid hearing equipment up and running, stating that if one wanted to a judge, one had to know how to use technology.
“After two weeks, no High Court shall deny video conferencing facilities or hybrid mode of hearing to any member of the Bar or litigant,” Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud pronounced in an order while heading a three-judge Bench.
The Supreme Court directed that High Courts would provide adequate Internet and free Wi-Fi to lawyers and litigants in their precincts. The links to the hearings would be provided in the daily cause lists. All the High Courts would put in place a standard operating procedure (SOP) for video conferencing and hybrid mode of hearings within four weeks. Delhi High Court judge, Justice Rajiv Shakdher would prepare a model SOP in conjunction with the Supreme Court-appointed amici curiae, advocates Gaurav Agarwal and K. Parameshwar.
As a judge who headed the judiciary’s drive to keep working through virtual hearings during the challenging days of the pandemic, Chief Justice Chandrachud has been insisting that the world has changed and judges cannot turn their backs on technology in their daily work.
“Technology is no longer a matter of choice. Judges have to realise that. You want to be a judge, learn how to use technology. It is as basic as ‘you want to drive, you need to have a licence’,” Chief Justice Chandrachud said in court.
The Chief Justice was addressing the “reticence” among High Court judges, including some Chief Justices of State High Courts, to use the hybrid mode. Some High Courts have dismantled equipment installed during the COVID days. Other High Court insist that lawyers and litigants come physically to court rather than have a choice to appear online.
“Supreme Court judges are being trained by Justice S. Ravindra Bhat [also a sitting top court judge] in the hybrid mode… We thought it would be best to have a judge train other judges… no one better to know the practical challenges… If we are ready to learn, why should High Court judges be so reticent?” Chief Justice Chandrachud asked.
During the hearing, the court noted how the Bombay High Court has almost “disbanded” the infrastructure for hybrid hearings. “This when Mumbai is the premier financial centre in the country,” Chief Justice Chandrachud observed. He noted that the system had been “completely shut down” in the Allahabad High Court, the largest High Court in the country.
The court found that the Manipur High Court was one among the five High Courts, along with Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Tripura and Uttarakhand, which have not responded to a September 15 top court order to inform about the status of their hybrid system. The Manipur government has insisted during the top court hearings on ethnic violence that lawyers appear online in the High Court. The Supreme Court gave the five High Courts a week to file their affidavit, failing which their Registrar Generals have to be personally present and explain the lapse, Chief Justice Chandrachud ordered.
In February, Chief Justice Chandrachud said virtual court technology was here to stay “now and forever” and Chief Justices of High Courts, who have shut down online court hearings post the pandemic, were duty-bound to “fall in line and come on board”.
In a hearing, the Chief Justice had said in court that he was “really disturbed” by the attitude of certain High Court Chief Justices who are disbanding technological infrastructure created by using public money.
The CJI said that judges cannot just switch off cameras and mics and insist on the physical presence of lawyers and litigants.
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