The SCBA and its treasurer Meenesh Kumar Dubey in the petition have directed the removal of the SOP and the registry of the apex court not to issue “any circular without consultation with the Bar”.
The Supreme Court orally observed on Friday that its Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) will commence when it is implicated without consulting the bar body, the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), starting the hybrid physical hearing from 15 March.
A division bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Hemant Gupta heard the arguments of SCBA President Senior Advocate Vikas Singh that the bar body is an equal stakeholder in the justice delivery system and has not been consulted by the apex court registry to circumvent the SOP. Hybrid Physical Hearing “If the bar is not consulted, the SOP will go,” the bench verbally observed and determined the SCBA’s petition for hearing on Tuesday during proceedings conducted via video-conferencing.
The SCBA and its treasurer Meenesh Kumar Dubey in the petition have directed the removal of the SOP and the registry of the apex court not to issue “any circular without consulting the bar”.
The apex court, which has been hearing cases through video-conferencing since March last year due to the COVID-19 epidemic, came on March 5 with Vikas, chairman of the newly elected executive committee of the SOP and SCBA. Singh denied this in a casual meeting.
“On an experimental basis, and as a pilot scheme, the final hearing / regular cases listed on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday can be heard in hybrid mode, as decided by the bench, considering the number of parties in a case. As well as limited capacity of the court room; all other matters, including those listed on Monday and Friday, will continue to be heard through the video / tele-conferencing mode.
The SCBA’s petition, the chairman of which said, the bar body has around 13,000 members and is compelled to file the petition because “the SOP has been issued by the registry without consulting the bar, although the bar is an equal stakeholder”. The justice delivery system and the suggestions given by the bar should be noted. “It said in the SCBA office bearers meeting with Chief Justice SA Bobde on 1 March, it was assured that it would be expedited by the registry keeping in view the suggestions made by the Executive Committee.
“In SOP… there is no provision for hybrid hearings for cases listed on Mondays and Fridays, that is, various days when mainly fresh cases are listed. The petition states that for the last one year this court has been working through virtual hearings and there is no provision for oral mention in the standard operating procedure dated 05.03.2021.
The past year has affected particularly young members of the bar, as well as a lot of problems regarding the silence and unmuting of lawyers at virtual hearings for the past year, so it is high time everywhere has taken safety precautions. They have started working together. He said that the temperature check at the entry points, wearing masks and maintaining social disturbances is that the normalcy in this court should also be restored as soon as possible.
“The right to mute during virtual hearings is against the concept of open hearing, which is a convention / norm and constitutional requirement under Article 145 of the Constitution of India. Open hearings deemed before the epidemic are also the only hearings allowed in law. Apart from this, there are many problems being used in the software. What software should be used without advice from the petitioners association should also not be implemented.
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