Bombay High Court Suspends Hybrid Hearings, Goes Completely Virtual

Owing to the exponential rise in Covid-19 cases and its variant Omicron in Maharashtra, the Bombay High Court has decided to suspend its decision of a hybrid system (virtual and physical) for hearings and instead hear all cases virtually at least till January 28, 2022.The decision to switch to virtual hearings was taken by the Bombay HC's administrative committee during a meeting with all High Court Bar associations. BMC Chief Iqbal Chahal was also present during the meeting. Mumbai alone reported over 8000 covid cases on Sunday while the entire state reported 50 Omicron cases. In a standard operating procedure issued yesterday mentioning matters for circulation is not permitted except in extremely urgent situations.According to the SOP all matters have to be electronically filed through "efiling.ecourts.gov.in". Cognisance will not be taken of email filing, the SOP adds. Physical filing is permitted till January 7. Physical filing of testamentary petitions has been permitted. Other restrictions include, circulation of matters being sought only by filing praecipes through e-mail. The SOP further states that for new matters, the advocate or party in person shall first procure a lodging number for their case and only then submit the praecipes. The praecipes should be served on the other side in advance. According to the SOP, at least 48 hours should be given before the proposed listing of the matter. "In the Praecipe itself, Advocates shall mention names of maximum three persons with their email ids who would attend the hearing through virtual mode. Similarly, respondents / defendants seeking to enter appearance shall intimate email ids of maximum three persons who would attend the hearing. Please note that only those persons whose email-Ids are intimated to the Registry would be allowed to attend the hearing through virtual mode," the notice reads.

Bombay High Court Suspends Hybrid Hearings, Goes Completely Virtual

Sharmeen Hakim

Tags