Virtual Hearing: Kerala High Court Advocates Association raises grievance regarding entry restrictions to Chief Justice's Court

The Kerala High Court Advocates' Association has written to the Registrar General of the Kerala High Court raising grievances regarding the practices of online hearings at the Chief Justice's Courtroom..The letter said that the Association received several complaints from advocates saying that they have been facing difficulties entering the Virtual Court proceedings of Court 1.Court 1 is the Court of the Chief Justice S Manikumar. Currently, Justice Shaji P Chaly accompanies him on the Bench in this Court. Court 1 has been holding video conference proceedings on Zoom since the beginning of the pandemic when the High Court was forced to switch to online/hybrid hearings.The Association has raised 3 major issues in the letter:1. Denying entry to advocates whose names are not shown on the causelist. As a result, advocates, especially junior advocates attached to many offices are unable to participate in VC proceedings;2. Delay in granting admission to the VC which has resulted in many lawyers missing their item or major portions of arguments;3. Advocates who want to mention cases and seek early hearing or make any submissions regarding listed cases are denied the opportunity to do the same..The letter from KHCAA Secretary K Anand expressed hope that the problems mentioned are resolved at the earliest, and that if online hearings are resorted to again due to contingencies in the future, these issues may be rectified. .Ever since the Kerala High Court started hearing cases virtually, the entry of journalists and the public to the Chief Justice's Court has been restricted. The V-Consol App for court hearings can restrict media entry.Just last month, the Bench comprising the Chief Justice heard the case regarding removal of the Prime Minister's photo from vaccination certificates and the the State of Kerala's appeal against a single-Judge's order staying surveys for the multi-crore K-Rail Silverline Project.Significantly, the appeal in the MediaOne case regarding the ban of the Malayalam News Channel by the Central government on national security grounds was heard by the Chief Justice's Bench. The case had renewed discussions across the country regarding the administration of justice based on materials provided in sealed covers..[Read Letter]