BREAKING : Supreme Court Calls For Meeting Between Judges Committee & SCBA To Resolve Differences On Hybrid Hearing SOP

The Supreme Court on Tuesday observed that there should be a meeting between the judges committee and the newly elected representatives of the Supreme Court Bar Association(SCBA) on the contentious SOP formulated for hybrid hearings.

"Meaningful consultation can only be with the judges committee", observed a bench comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and R Subhash Reddy in the order.

"We are of the view that it will be in the fitness of things that the members of the bar iron out their differences in the perception of SOP, for which the appropriate course will be to hear the newly elected representatives of the bar. Meaningful consultation can only be with the judges committee.

We would call upon the Secretary General to request judges committee to fix up a formal meeting with the bar", the bench ordered.

The matter will be posted next Tuesday for further hearing.

The bench noted in the order that the materials before it showed that discussions were taking place between the representatives of the bar and the Registry before the formulation of the Standard Operating Procedure(SOP). Last week, the bench had called for the minutes of the meetings from the Registry.

The bench further noted that the SCBA President Vikas Singh said that many aspects of SOP need to be tweaked and some aspects are not workable.

His principle grievance is that the SOP has been drafted without the meeting of the judges committee, the bench noted in the order.

The order was passed while hearing a petition filed by the Supreme Court Bar Association challenging the Standard Operating Procedure(SOP) formulated by the top court to begin hybrid hearings via physical and virtual mode from March 15.

Senior Advocate Vikas Singh, the President of the Supreme Court Bar Association, urged that the SOP should be set aside as it has been made without consulting the lawyers. Singh insisted that there should be open court hearings by strictly enforcing COVID-19 protocols regarding masks, social distancing, use of sanitizers etc.

Justice Kaul however sought to counter the view that the advocates were part of the meeting which led to the SOP. 

"You said no people from the Bar were part of the meeting. I have it on record, the minutes, that people were there. How can you say so?", Justice Kaul said.

Singh insisted that the views of the lawyers were not taken and he, as the SCBA President, was not consulted.

"The judges even don't know the stand of the Bar. This SOP was issued without hearing Bar Association. This had to be done only by the Judges Committee and nobody else.

As a President of Bar, I have not been called for a meeting for the last 16 days. And if I can't be heard, if the Chief Justice or Judges Committee doesn't have the time to hear me, and if my views are irrelevant for the purpose of this SOP, then I do not want to say anything", Singh, who had earlier written to the CJI seeking resumption of physical hearings, argued.

Singh said that there was no rationale in not resuming physical functioning of courts when cinema halls and airports have started operations.

"The SOP was never placed before us. It has been straight away parachuted at the Bar", Singh submitted with vehemence.

"This SOP is for advocates..restricting their movement. Why are they not consulted? Why are you deciding our SOP?", Singh added.

At this juncture, Justice Reddy rebuked Singh by saying "You cannot argue like this. You are the President of SCBA. You have a lot of responsibility".

The bench said that the SOP was formulated after taking into account the opinions of medical experts. It asked Singh if he was willing to discuss the aspects with the judges' committee.

"The appropriate thing will be to discuss this with Judges Committee and come back to us on suggestions. The only solution is to have a discussion with the committee", Justice Kaul said.

Justice Kaul told Singh that the SOP was only a "working arrangement" which should not be read like a statute.

The bench also considered another petition filed by All India Jurists Association, an organization of Tamil Nadu-based lawyers, which is batting for the continuation of virtual hearings.

Senior Advocate Santhosh Paul, appearing for the Association, submitted that his client has no objection to the SOP as it was increasing the inclusivity and diversity of the bar.

The bench responded by saying that there will be different points of view but the solution will be to have a "common path".

It was on March 6 that the SC published the SOP for starting hybrid functioning on an experimental basis from March 15. As per this arrangement, cases listed on miscellaneous days(Mondays and Fridays) will be heard virtually, and the final hearing matters listed on other days will have the option of physical hearing as well.

The final hearing and regular matters where the number of Advocates for the parties are more than the average working capacity of the Court rooms being 20 per court room according to the Covid-19 norms will invariably be listed for hearing through video conferencing mode.