100 crore spent to enable virtual courts: Application in Supreme Court to quash Madhya Pradesh HC decision to revert to physical hearings

An application has been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the decision of the Madhya Pradesh High Court to revert to physical hearings with effect from October 25..The circular issued by the High Court reads:"High Court of Madhya Pradesh shall be open for hearing of the cases through Physical mode, at Principal Seat Jabalpur and Benches at Indore and Gwalior w.e.f. 25/10/2021. Learned Advocates/Parties-in-person, aged 65 years and above, may make an oral request to the Bench for taking up their case for hearing through virtual mode and the concerned Bench may consider the request accordingly.".The application filed through advocate Sriram Parakkat stated that the cap of 65 years for extending the benefit of hybrid and virtual hearing "is creating an artificial distinction of the classification, when any counsel below the age of 65 may also fall in need of Virtual hearing for multiple reasons.".The plea contends that the decision to do away with virtual hearings comes after the High Court invited national tenders and purchased around 1,700 paid licenses of Cisco Webex for smooth conduct of virtual and hybrid hearings."20 days back, on 1st October, 2021 the High Court inaugurated the latest software-based application - Webex-Cisco for the working of various Courts through Hybrid Mode with video conferencing facility. Around 1700 authorised licenses have been purchased by the High Court establishment for a huge cost crossing Rs 10 Crores sanctioned by the E-Committee of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India," the application said. .It was submitted that over the past one year, an amount of more than ₹100 crore has been invested in upgrading the infrastructure at the Madhya Pradesh High Court to enable facilities for video conference/virtual court hearings. This has been in the form of addition of hardware and software infrastructure like expensive LED screens and High Data Speed Landline (HSDL) broadband connections..The application seeks to not only quash the October 23 circular, but also to direct continuance of hybrid hearings in the Madhya Pradesh High Court..The plea also relied on the recent Supreme Court decision to modify its physical hearing Standard Operation Procedure (SOP). At the apex court, hybrid mode of hearing has been permitted even on days which were earlier restricted exclusively for physical hearing (Wednesdays and Thursdays). .[BREAKING] Supreme Court to commence physical hearing with hybrid option from Sept 1, lawyers can choose between virtual and physical [READ SOP]