Amid COVID Surge, Bombay High Court Returns To Virtual Hearing In Part

Given the surge in Covid – 19 cases in Maharashtra, the Bombay High Court at its principal seat in Mumbai will hear criminal matters physically, while civil matters will be taken up through video conferencing, it was decided at a meeting chaired by Chief Justice Dipankar Datta, on Monday.

It was further decided that the CJ's court will function in a hybrid format, and hear matters, both, physically and virtually.

The standard operating procedure in this regard is likely to be issued tomorrow and the new arrangement is likely to be applicable from Wednesday.

The city of Mumbai recorded the highest single-day spike in coronavirus cases since the beginning of the pandemic with 11,163 cases, on Sunday. The State government has also imposed a partial lockdown.

"Owing to the present conditions in the city, the Chief feels this is the best way to reduce the footfall in court, all original side courts and civil courts will be virtual courts and criminal courts will be physical courts," Bombay Bar Association (BBA) president Senior Advocate Nitin Thakkar said while speaking to Live Law.

Apart from four senior-most judges of the Bombay High Court, ie. the CJ, Justice AA Sayyed, Justice SS Shinde, Justice KK Tated, Advocate General of Maharashtra Ashutosh Kumbhakoni, Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, representatives of the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa, Bombay Bar Association, Advocates Association of Western India (AAWI), Bombay Incorporated Law Society.

The Bombay High Court began hearing matters through physical hearing in December 2020.

The Chief Justice had earlier nominated 24 of the 25 benches to hear matters physically between April 5-18, according to the sitting list issued on April 1, 2021. The Bombay High Court benches at Aurangabad and Nagpur are already hearing only urgent matters and conducting proceedings via video conference.

However, on Saturday, the division bench of Justices SS Shinde and Manish Pitale, which has the criminal assignment, notified they will hear matters virtually, until further orders. Justice K R Shriram also conducts matters through virtual hearings.

The third bench of Justice Gautam Patel has also been hearing matters through the hybrid format. Maharashtra Break the Chain

The Maharashtra government issued a notification late on Sunday imposing a partial lockdown. According to the notice, all non-essential services would remain shut till the end of the month.

As per the notification night curfew will be imposed every day from 8 pm to 7 am and gatherings of five or more people will be prohibited from 7 am to 8 pm.