Amid lockdown, Supreme Court heard 593 cases via video facility

203 out of the 593 cases were connected cases, that is, cases involving the same issue which were heard along with the main case.

The Supreme Court has heard a total of 593 cases through video conferencing facility in the last 34 days.

203 out of the 593 cases were connected cases, that is, cases involving the same issue which were heard along with the main case.

The top court also delivered judgments in 41 cases during this period. Through these 41 judgments, the court disposed of an additional 174 cases which were connected matters.

The apex court started hearing cases through video conferencing on March 23, a day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the national lockdown in view of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The top court also issued a circular on March 23 suspending entry of lawyers and litigants to the court premises and directing that only extremely urgent cases would be taken up for hearing through video conferencing during the lockdown period.

Since then, the court sat for hearing on 17 working days with a total of 34 benches hearing cases through video conferencing.

Besides, 53 benches also sat to decide review petitions though those were decided in chambers without oral hearing; 84 review petitions were disposed of by the court during this period.

The hearings in Supreme Court is conducted through the Vidyo app which can be downloaded on mobile phones and desktop. The platform is hosted on the servers of National Data Centre of National Informatics Centre.

While the judges on the bench join the video conference from the residence of one of the judges, the lawyers join from their respective houses.

The court also came out with standard operating procedure (SOP) for filing, mentioning and hearing of cases through video conferencing on three occasions - March 23, March 26 and April 15.

But there have been criticism from various quarters regarding hearings through video conferencing.

“I was party to the video conference proceedings in a case on Kerala-Karnataka issue. But my experience was slightly disappointing. On the first day, when the cases were taken up there were serious technical glitches on the part of the Registry as the Vidyo app did not function. So the court had to eventually fall back upon Whatsapp video calling facility. Whatsapp video call cannot take more than 3 to 4 persons simultaneously. Therefore, the judges said they will hear only government counsel. Since I was appearing for an individual, I was disconnected and an order was passed about which we came to know later. During the next hearing, the case was disposed of based on the statements made by the solicitor general without hearing us”, said advocate Haris Beeran.

“Majority of the complaints raised regarding video conferencing are with regard to technical glitches faced by lawyers. But this is due to internet connectivity issues at lawyers’ residences or offices. Supreme Court judges have been provided with internet connectivity with speed upto 100Mbps at their residences. They have, therefore, not experienced any difficulties during video conferencing. Besides, many lawyers join the hearing through their mobile phones and they are disconnected when their device receives another call. These issues can hopefully be worked out ”, a Supreme Court official said on condition of anonymity.

The SOP issued by the Supreme Court on April 15 contained instructions to minimize technical glitches. Besides, the court also provided helpline numbers for addressing queries relating to mentioning of the matters for urgent hearing, technical support for video conference, or e-filing,

“It is only common to expect technical glitches in the first few days. That should, however, not blind us from the long term benefits of this initiative”, said Surya Prakash, Programme Director at Daksh, a civil society organsiation.

Another issue which has been highlighted is regarding how the hearing through video conferencing affects open court hearing.

One of the important facets of our court system is open court hearing. It means hearings in courts are open to public except in certain special cases involving privacy issues of parties.

But the hearing of cases through Vidyo app can be accessed only through a weblink sent by the Supreme Court Registry to the lawyers involved in the case.

The lawyer can join the video conference by clicking the link. Hence, the public cannot access or listen to the case. Access to media is also restricted with only a limited number of journalists permitted to view the hearing through a screen set up for this purpose at the Supreme Court.

“Open court hearings are important in retaining the trust of the citizens in the functioning of the judiciary. While implementing hearings through video conferences, enabling open court features should also be prioritized. Access to archives of these recordings could also be made available to public but after taking into account privacy concerns. This is best achieved by a statutory backing. It is heartening to see that Supreme Court has asked high courts to frame rules in this regard”, Surya Prakash said.