"Absolutely unfortunate:" Supreme Court laments Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi leaving virtual hearing midway

The Supreme Court on Monday criticised Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi for leaving a virtual hearing midway..A bench of Justices MR Shah and BV Nagarathna termed the act on the part of Senior Counsel "absolutely unfortunate". Hearings were progressing normally before the Bench when a junior counsel sought a pass over in a case since Rohatgi, who was slated to appear, was not present in court. When Justice Shah declined the request, Rohatgi appeared virtually and made submissions. .After the respondents concluded submissions, the Bench sought to know if Rohatgi, who was appearing for the petitioner, had any submissions for rejoinder.However, the Court could not locate the Senior Advocate on screen, prompting his junior to seek a pass over.The Bench, which was on the verge of reserving its judgment in the case, noted that such an act by the senior lawyer "was most unfortunate"..The same was recorded in the order, which stated,"After the submissions were completed by the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the respondents, we wanted some further questions to be asked to the learned Senior Counsel for the petitioner. However, Mr. Mukul Rohatgi, learned Senior Advocate, for the petitioner has left the Court in the midst of arguments and when the matter was going on. This is absolutely unfortunate.".The Bench further stated in the order that when the matter was going on, he ought not to have left the hearing. "Even if he might be required in another Court, he should have asked the leave of the Court," the Bench observed while reserving its judgment in the matter..On Monday, Court No 3, presided by Justice AM Khanwilkar, also witnessed similar something when the judge could not find Rohatgi in the case dealing with the challenge to the IT Rules, 2021..This led the Bench to observe that virtual hearings should not be opted for admission hearings and that it should only be used for final hearing matters. "Hybrid hearing is not working well," the Bench which also comprised Justice Abhay S Oka opined..[Read Order].Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.