Hybrid hearing to begin in Supreme Court soon

Hybrid hearing to begin in Supreme Court soon

Lawyers would have the option to appear either physically or virtually in physical courts

Experimentation in the dispensation of justice is set to continue. After the virtual hearing following the Covid-19 outbreak, the stage is set for the Supreme Court of India to start hybrid hearing.

Under the proposed hybrid hearing, while there will be physical courts, AOR/Advocate/Party in Person would have the option to either physically or virtually be present in the court.

A decision to this effect was taken after the Coronavirus cases have started subsiding in the country. A decision in this regard was taken at a meeting held on 13 January 2021 which was attended by the officials from the Supreme Court, the Supreme Court Advocate on Record Association and the Supreme Court Bar Association.

The meeting decided that the physical courts would begin operating in a hybrid manner very soon, although no date has been finalised for it yet.

Under the hybrid system, when a matter is heard in physical court, the parties will have the option to appear either physically or virtually.

The requisite standard operating procedure and other details will be soon released.

A press statement issued by the Bar Council of India (BCI) gave the particulars of the meeting, which was convened between the leaders of the Bar and the Chief Justice of India (CJI) SA Bobde to discuss the resumption of physical hearings at the Supreme Court.

"From today's meeting, it is clear that the physical hearings are going to start in Apex Court within 3-4 weeks," the BCI press release informed.