SC laid down guidelines for functioning of Courts during pandemic
- shrey singh
- Apr 8, 2020
- 2 min read
IN RE: GUIDELINES FOR COURT FUNCTIONING THROUGH VIDEO
CONFERENCING DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC
SUO MOTU WRIT (CIVIL) NO.5/2020 decided 06.04.2020
Bench: S.A.Bobde, Dr Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud and L. Nageswara Rao, JJ.
The Supreme Court owing to recent outbreak of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) in several countries, including India, has necessitated the immediate adoption of measures to ensure social distancing in order to prevent the transmission of the virus. The Court said that challenges occasioned by the outbreak of COVID-19 have to be addressed while preserving the constitutional commitment to ensuring the delivery of and access to justice to those who seek it. The Supreme Court highlighted the importance of technology in judicial proceedings.
Furthermore, in exercise of power under Art. 142 of Constitution, the Supreme Court laid down following guidelines:
1. Measures to reduce the need for the physical presence of all stakeholders within court premises so as to secure the functioning of courts in consonance with social distancing guidelines.
2. Measures to be taken by SC and HC to function through the use of video conferencing technologies.
3. The District Courts in each State shall adopt the mode of Video Conferencing prescribed by the concerned High Court.
4. The Court shall duly notify and make available the facilities for video conferencing for such litigants who do not have the means or access to video conferencing facilities.
5. Until appropriate rules are framed by the High Courts, video conferencing shall be mainly employed for hearing arguments whether at the trial stage or at the appellate stage. In no case shall evidence be recorded without the mutual consent of both the parties by video conferencing. If it is necessary to record evidence in a Court room the presiding officer shall ensure that appropriate distance is maintained between any two individuals in the Court.
6. The presiding officer shall have the power to restrict entry of persons into the court room or the points from which the arguments are addressed by the advocates. No presiding officer shall prevent the entry of a party to the case unless such party is suffering from any infectious illness.
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