Bombay High Court restarts virtual hearing after SC rap
The Hindu
The High Court had started hearing matters online through videoconferencing during the pandemic, but stopped the system as COVID-19 cases reduced and the lockdown was lifted.
The Bombay High Court on October 10 started hearing matters virtually, in addition to physical hearings, after the Supreme Court rapped some courts for disbanding videoconferencing infrastructure.
The High Court had started hearing matters online through videoconferencing during the pandemic. However, it stopped the system as COVID-19 cases reduced and the lockdown was lifted.
On October 6, Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud said, “No High Court in the country shall deny access to video conferencing or hearing through hybrid mode to lawyers and litigants after two weeks.” He said that technology was not a matter of choice for judges any more.
On October 9, Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyaya of the Bombay High Court issued a notice that “lawyers, parties-in-person, litigants and other concerned persons desirous of adopting mode of virtual hearing may request access to the court associates and only after confirming their identity and relevance to cases listed before the court, the concerned persons will be allowed to participate in virtual hearing”.
While residents are worried over deaths due to diarrhoea in Vijayawada, officials still grapple to find the root cause. Contaminated drinking water supplied by VMC officials is the reason, insist people in the affected areas, but officials insist that efforts are on to identify the disease and that those with symptoms other than diarrhoea too are visiting the health camps.