[Hybrid Hearings] Apprehension of COVID-19 numbers being on the rise again: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday granted three weeks' time to the Delhi government to file a status report on the provision of facilities for hybrid hearings in courts in the capital (Anil Kumar Hajelay & Ors v. Hon'ble High Court of Delhi)..A Division Bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Jasmeet Singh ordered,"The matter is under consideration by the National Informatics Centre (NIC). Further time is sought to file the status report. A response is to be filed by the GNCTD (Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi) before the High Court by December 13." During the course of the hearing, the Court also remarked,"There's an apprehension of COVID numbers being on the rise again. The key is to be on a quicker footing.".The Court was hearing petitions filed by practicing lawyers and senior citizens seeking a better system of hybrid hearings at Delhi's district courts and quasi-judicial bodies..During today's hearing, the Court took on record a statement made by counsel for the Delhi government Shadan Farasat that the aspect of providing hybrid hearing facilities for quasi-judicial bodies will be taken into consideration and that a detailed report of the meetings between GNCTD and its IT department will be provided. Farasat also informed the Court that a meeting was scheduled today by the Additional Chief Secretary of the GNCTD with regard to an estimation of which quasi-judicial bodies required facilities for hybrid hearings and which do not.The matter will be heard next on December 13..Last month, the Court had directed the Aam Aadmi party government to ensure that a 'state-of-the-art' system is in place for hybrid hearings in district and trial courts in the national capital by December 2, 2021.The order was passed after the Delhi government had informed the High Court that it had allocated of ₹79.48 crore for providing better hybrid hearing facilities in district courts and that the tendering process for the same was complete."The Delhi government has stated in it's reply that they have invited tenders for this process and purchased 101 computers and technical goods. However, some items are still to be purchased. Please assure that the hybrid system is actualized within 3 months from the September 2, 2021. We have taken on record the position stated in the Status Report," the Court had said..The Bench had also directed the Delhi government to file a fresh status report enlisting the details of infrastructure, software, hardware, allocation of amounts, etc along with all other details regarding utilization of funds by the next date of hearing."Let a fresh status report be filed. It should contain the allocation of the amount and a chart of the items proposed in Court. It should also contain a chart of items which have been approved and those which have not been approved," the Court had ordered in this regard.Prior to that, the Court had directed the Delhi government to act expeditiously towards providing better infrastructure for virtual hearings at district courts and tribunals in the Capital. The Court had also said that if the government fails to do so, it would have to disclose the details of expenditure incurred by it on the grant of subsidies and public advertisements from April 1..Put in place state-of-the-art hybrid hearing facilities in Delhi courts by December 2021: Delhi High Court to AAP govt