Virtual hearings not meant to replace physical hearings: Justice DY Chandrachud

The virtual launch of a new e-filing system and a judgment search initiative on Friday saw Justice DY Chandrachud, the chairman of the Supreme Court E-Committee, assure that it has never been the intention to replace physical hearings with virtual hearings..Virtual hearings were adopted only to ensure that courts remained accessible during the COVID-19 pandemic and to show that the Indian judiciary is flexible to cater to the needs of the citizens, Justice Chandrachud added. ."We began video conferencing as the platform for answering the problems of the pandemic ... not to replace physical hearings but to ensure that the courts were functional and available for those whose liberties and rights were being seriously infringed during this period, because we exist for the common citizens," he said..He went on to observe, ."I know that many High Courts have shown flexibility. For instance, recently, because of the onset of the second COVID wave in Maharashtra, Chief Justice Dipankar Datta has again adopted a virtual platform for conducting the hearings in the High Court. The idea is to show the flexibility of the Indian Judicial system. Not for a moment do we want to replace physical hearings. Nothing of the sort. But we are conscious of the need to protect the public health of our lawyers, of the litigants who come to our courts," he said..He recalled that shortly before today's e-inauguration event, he received a note or protest from the Delhi Bar expressing apprehension over whether virtual hearings were going to replace physical hearings. .This led Justice Chandrachud to assure the virtual gathering that such concerns are misplaced. "Let me assuage, at the outset, to all members of Bar, for someone like me who holds everything to the Bar and the institution of the judiciary, nothing could be further from my mind than to replace the strength, the resilience of the open court system.".He emphasised that the initiatives being launched are only aimed at making the Court's services more friendly for lawyers and litigants. "We are not here to introduce some new fangled system over the system which has grown over the last 150 years or more. We want to strengthen our existing systems and to make them even more effective by incorporating the cooperation of all diverse stakeholders - the Bar, the Bench, the citizens and civil society," he said. .Demands for the resumption of physical courts have been voiced by various sections of the Bar across the country, with concerns being raised that the livelihoods of lawyers are being affected while the Courts await to resume regular functioning on non-virtual platforms. .Recently the Delhi High Court as well as the Supreme Court were called on to intervene. The Delhi High Court's move to resume physical hearings as the norm saw both strong support and vocal protest. The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) challenged a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) put in place for the hybrid system of hearings at the apex court. .Last month, the Supreme Court disposed of SCBA's plea, opining that little can be done on the judicial side and that the matter should be tended to by the administrative side of the Court. This turn of events even led the SCBA President to tell the Court, "We have no choice but to take agitational path.".Meanwhile, with rising COVID-19 cases amid the pandemic's second wave, the Delhi High Court yesterday decided to revert back to fully virtual hearings until April 23.