The Bar Council of Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim has asked the Gauhati High Court and its five-member panel to resume physical courts at all levels from September 1 or face a stir.
The Bar Council resented the “unilateral” decision for extending the existing system of virtual courts till September 5. The Gauhati HC had on August 11 constituted this committee comprising five judges for examining the feasibility of resumption of physical courts after the district Bar Associations underscored the fiscal hardships faced by the legal fraternity.
The committee was formed “for taking decisions for opening the courts or imposing restrictions on court functioning of the Gauhati High Court as well as the outlying Benches and subordinate courts of Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh.” It held a meeting with the Bar Council and other stakeholders on August 17.
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“After suggestions from different stakeholders for resumption of physical courts at the earliest, the committee said it would communicate its decision by August 22. As instructed by this panel, the Bar Council had on August 21 submitted some modalities for reopening the courts,” said Hafiz Rashid Ahmed Choudhury, chairman of the Bar Council of five Northeastern States.
“But without communicating its decision to the stakeholders, the committee unilaterally issued a notification on August 21 and extended the virtual court system till September 5,” he told The Hindu .