Orissa High Court Decides To Resume Hearing In Physical Mode From Feb 15, SOP To Be Issued Shortly

The Order issued by the Registrar General states,

"The hearing in the High Court in Physical Mode shall resume on 15^th February 2021 in terms of the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) both for the High Court and Subordinate Courts/Tribunals shall be notified shortly."

The Order has also notified that the arrangement made vide office dated 21^st August 2020 regarding functioning of the High Court as well as subordinate Courts/Tribunals shall remain in force till 14^th February 2021.

"Further, the option in every case to appear either physically or virtually shall be given in advance to the Registry by the lawyer concerned. The lawyers are requested to convey their option the previous evening," the order adds.

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It is important to noted that yesterday (29^th January), Senior Advocate Dhruv Mehta, appearing before a bench headed by Justice D. Y. Chandrachud, pointed out that physical hearings have commenced in several High Courts across the country.

To this, Justice Chandrachud said, "It is their (the High Courts') call".

"Actually, very shortly you will receive the good news. Our video conferencing platform will now be stabilised, thanks to the tender we are awarding...Justice A. M. Khanwilkar, Justice Hemant Gupta and I are taking care of this. So this will be done very shortly", Justice Chandrachud further said.

The Supreme Court, in the last few weeks, appeared to be mulling over the resumption of physical hearings.

When the senior counsel appearing in the Maratha reservation matter before a five-judge bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan pressed for a physical hearing of the matter, Justice Bhushan, reportedly, hinted that the same may concretize soon.

Subsequently, CJ S. A. Bobde had stated that a decision on the aspect of physical hearings shall be taken in consultation with the medical experts, without being swayed by the lawyers' opinions.

After massive backlash on its decision to resume physical hearings, the Delhi High Court last week permitted lawyers to appear before it via-video conferencing, on an advance intimation.

Through an office order issued under the authority of Chief Justice DN Patel, it was intimated:

"Matters shall be taken up through physical mode as per the Roster of Sitting of the Hon'ble Judges of this Court. However, request for taking up any such matter through virtual mode shall be entertained by the Court wherever advance intimation is provided."

In related news, the Punjab & Haryana High Court recently asked the District & Sessions Judges in the State of Punjab, Haryana and U.T. Chandigarh to permit the physical hearing in all categories of cases subject to their own assessment of prevailing local conditions including the intensity of spread of COVID-19 Pandemic.

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