Decided to resume physical hearing due to pressure from bar associations: CJI NV Ramana

Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana on Wednesday said that the Supreme Court took the decision to resume physical hearing of cases on Wednesdays and Thursdays due to pressure from the Bar..The CJI revealed the same during a mentioning made by Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal with regard to certain restrictions placed on the number of lawyers allowed inside court rooms for physical hearing. "I am sorry to mention this...but we wanted to talk about the decision of the Court regarding physical hearing. It is impossible to have only one lawyer inside the courtroom when volumes of cases and files are so much," Sibal said."You know why we took this decision. Even though some of my colleagues had reservations, we went ahead as bar associations were saying we are not opening courts," CJI Ramana responded..He also asked Sibal what the difficulty was in having physical hearings for two days in a week. "The PMLA cases often have six briefing counsels. We are not opposed to physical, but why should there be a hard and fast rule? Let us come over the weekend and explain to you. Please defer this decision for post Diwali," Sibal said..The CJI then said that he would speak with other judges during lunch and inform the Bar of their decision. "Let me discuss with other judges and get back after lunch," he said.Senior Advocate and President of the Supreme Court Bar Association Vikas Singh, however, maintained that he will push for physical hearings on all days and not just Wednesdays and Thursdays. "I want the physical hearings to continue on all days. Senior counsel who have a difficulty can take a break for six months, but juniors will starve. Even I can take that break," Singh said..The Supreme Court had on October 7 decided that all cases listed on Wednesday and Thursday (non-miscellaneous days) will compulsorily require the physical presence of lawyers and will be heard only in court rooms, with effect from October 20. A modified Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) was also issued to that effect. In a matter listed for hearing through physical mode, only one Advocate-on-Record (AoR) or his nominee, one arguing counsel and one junior counsel per party will be allowed entry into the court room. One registered clerk per party, as may be chosen by the AoR, shall be allowed to carry paper books/journals etc. up to the court rooms.This led to objections from certain lawyers who claimed that it would not be possible to function with such limited number of lawyers, since the documents and pleadings involved may be bulky. .This is the first time since March 2020 that the Supreme Court is insisting on the physical presence of lawyers for cases, a sure sign of the top court' s plan to slowly open up physical hearing.After the Court shifted to virtual hearing in March last year due to COVID-19, lawyers were being provided the opportunity to appear physically or through video conference.