Let us hope we can mainstream virtual courts though it cannot replace physical courts: Justice Hima Kohli bids farewell to Telangana High Court

Virtual court has its pros and cons but its biggest advantage is that it enables lawyers to sit at home and appear before any court in India, Telangana High Court Chief Justice Hima Kohli said on Friday..There should be an attempt to mainstream virtual courts though it can never replace physical courts, she said.“We could never dream about it when we started our career that there will be an opportunity when we can sit at our homes and login to courts. Let us hope that we can mainstream that. But of course, it can never take the place of virtual court,” Justice Kohli said..That is why we are trying to open up slowly and I am sure as things get better, the court will come back to normalcy, she added.She was speaking at the farewell ceremony organised for her by the Telangana High Court Advocates Association.Justice Kohli’s elevation to the Supreme Court was notified by the Central government yesterday.In her speech, Justice Kohli said that privilege of appearing in several courts has opened up due to virtual hearing..“It has its minus points, it takes a toll on us. It hurts our eyes, we start getting head ache and hearing issues and there are technical glitches,” she opined.But it has its positives as well, she said.“The plus is that we are sitting in the safety of our homes and able to login to court hearings – not just this court but almost all courts in the country,” Justice Kohli said..She also said that vacancies in the High Court was affecting justice dispensation and leading to rise in pendency of cases.“We, judges and lawyers are two sides of the same coin. No legal system can work without our working in tandem with each other. Any one of the wings goes slow, the whole system will collapse. And that is unfortunately a situation brought to this court because of lack of number of judges,” she said.She highlighted that the pendency in Telangana High Court has shot up to 2,32,000 cases due to the high vacancy in the High Court.She, however, expressed satisfaction that the High Court Collegium which she headed during her 7-month tenure at the helm, was able to recommend 13 names for appointment as High Court judges..“We have another 7 in the pipeline. It will be a good full house of 32 soon,” she said.Justice Kohli was born and brought up in New Delhi. She was appointed an additional judge of the Delhi High Court on May 29, 2006 and took oath as a permanent Judge on August 29, 2007. She went on to become the first and only woman Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court on January 7, 2021.She played a fundamental role in championing the cause of public health during the COVID-19 crisis, as a judge of the Delhi High Court..In June 2020, a Division Bench led by Justice Kohli allowed private hospitals equipped with labs and permitted by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to conduct COVID-19 tests, in a bid to prevent Delhi from becoming the 'Corona Capital' of the country (Rakesh Malhotra v. NCT of Delhi).On March 28, 2020, a High-Powered Committee headed by Justice Kohli relaxed the criteria for release of undertrial prisoners on interim bail from Delhi jails in view of the global COVID-19 pandemic and the Supreme Court’s concern over overcrowding in jails.Apart from her contributions during the pandemic, Justice Kohli is known to have developed a strong jurisprudence in the area of matrimonial disputes through a feminist lens.In one of her widely appreciated judgments, she held that a wife’s conduct of being interested in remaining in her room or not showing initiative in doing household work can by no stretch of imagination be described as cruel behaviour towards the husband (Vishal Singh v. Priya).