Justice DY Chandrachud asks MP High Court Chief Justice to take corrective measures to address quality concerns plaguing video conference hearing

Supreme Court judge, Justice DY Chandrachud has written to Madhya Pradesh (MP) High Court Chief Justice (CJ) Mohammad Rafiq to take corrective measures to see that the concerns raised by the Bar regarding inferior audio-video quality plaguing virtual court hearings in MP High Court, are addressed. .Justice Chandrachud, who is the Chairperson of the Supreme Court e-committee, sought Justice Rafiq's personal intervention and oversight in this regard. "In the event advocates and litigants are facing issues with video conferencing solution provided by your High Court which is impeding their right to access justice effectively, I request you to take corrective measures," the letter dated May 28 said. Justice Chandrachud also said that any financial requirements which would be necessary to procure suitable video conference solution including licenses or upgrading existing systems can be addressed to e-committee via Ramesh Babu who is Member (Project Management).Such requests will be dealt with highest priority, Justice Chandrachud assured. .The letter by Justice Chandrachud came after the Madhya Pradesh State Bar Council chairperson, Dr. Vijay Choudhary wrote to him highlighting grave concerns being faced by an overwhelming majority of the advocates practicing before the Madhya Pradesh High Court due to the video conference hearings being conducted using the ‘Jitsi platform’.Choudhary called for the introduction of a more efficient and user-friendly virtual hearing platform like Webex Cisco or Zoom to host virtual hearings conducted by the Madhya Pradesh High Court.According to Choudhary, the Jisti platform is neither user friendly nor convenient for lawyers and litigants.“When 25 or 30 lawyers appear in batch matters, the Court for the majority of the time is not able to comprehend the submissions of the counsel. For the last two days, the Court hearing COVID-19 matters had to be suspended during the hearing to enable technical staff to put things in order when audio-video quality dipped, making communication between the Bench and the Bar almost impossible,” the letter dated May 24 elaborated.Choudhary also highlighted numerous problems with the ‘Jitsi platform’ being used by all three benches of the Madhya Pradesh High Court at Jabalpur, Gwalior and Indore. The app suffers from various technical deficiencies including, but not limited to, inaudibility, echoing sounds and an overall poor quality of audio and video, he said.In fact, these problems became so magnified that many sitting judges have shifted to other platforms at their own costs and expenses because they could not withstand the day-to-day glitches faced during hearings via Jisti, it was stated..Jitsi not user-friendly, shift Madhya Pradesh High Court hearings to Zoom/ Webex: MP Bar Council Chairman writes to Justice DY Chandrachud.In his letter to the MP High Court Chief Justice, Justice Chandrachud said that e-committee is working on adopting one video conferencing solution for all courts across India. However, till such a uniform system is evolved, courts must ensure that a robust and user friendly video conference solution is available to users for effective hearing of court proceedings, he stated. "Poor connectivity, inferior audio-video quality and failure to accommodate all lawyers who appear in a case at a time are some of the issues flagged by lawyers. These concerns raised by vital stakeholders need to be urgently redressed," Justice Chandrachud urged Justice Rafiq. .[Read Letter]