The Supreme Court on Monday directed all district courts in the country to switch to video proceedings and authorised presiding officers to adjourn the proceedings if measures to control crowding in court rooms fail.
A three-judge bench of Chief Justice SA Bobde and justices DY Chandrachud and L Nageswara Rao said courts should restrict entry and maintain social distancing, besides taking other measures to check the spread of Covid-19.
It said the Supreme Court and HCs are already conducting proceedings via videoconferencing and that other courts too should use the technology. “It is necessary that courts at all levels respond to the call of social distancing and ensure that court premises do not contribute to the spread of virus,” the bench said.
“This is not a matter of discretion but of duty.” Court hearings in congregation must necessarily become an exception, the bench said. Surya Prakash, programme director of civil society organisation DAKSH, said the order was much needed.
“It also gives us an opportunity to understand its dayto-day functioning and see what further tweaks are necessary,” he said. “The judiciary must also start thinking about ramping up e-filing and using smart forms instead of uploading scanned files. Ensuring that the input into the system is digital can transform the entire chain into digital.”
The bench also directed the department of justice and the National Informatics Centre (NIC) to ensure a glitch-free technological infrastructure so that courts can work smoothly.
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