Several lawyers have written to the Chief Justice of India (CJI) for the resumption of physical court hearings in the Supreme Court.
It was only on Tuesday that a Bench led by the CJI Sharad A. Bobde had said that opening the court for physical hearings may run the risk of spread of infection during the pandemic.
However, the lawyers cited several handicaps in the virtual court system, including issues of network connectivity, lack of proper management by the Registry, and an unresponsive Registry when it came to mentioning of cases.
The lawyers said their resources had suffered a severe depletion during the past 10 months and many have left Delhi, unable to bear the cost of living in the city.
Recently, vocal criticism of the apex court’s virtual court system came from within the Supreme Court judiciary. A Bench led by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul recorded its “exasperation” on the frequent disconnections and interruptions.