Madras High Court to work with full strength but virtually

Madras High Court to work with full strength but virtually

The decision was taken by the administrative committee of the High Court and will come into effect from Monday.

Published: 03rd July 2020 09:23 PM 

Madras High Court 

By Harish Murali

Express News Service

CHENNAI: Madras High Court on Friday decided to continue with the virtual court proceedings with its full strength. All the judges will carry out the hearings either in their court chamber or their residences. The decision was taken by the administrative committee of the High Court and will come into effect from Monday.

Since the lockdown, the court was functioning with only two division benches and four single judges hearing urgent matters through video conference. Even with these restrictions, at least six judges of the high court have tested positive for Covid 19 and are under treatment.

Members of the Bar sent a detailed representation on Wednesday to the Chief Justice for resuming the physical functioning of the courts. However, the administrative committee, headed by Chief Justice AP Sahi, decided to proceed with virtual court. It has been decided to function in full strength as the cases pending before the courts have increased.

The bar council in its letter sought for the opening of courts in a phased manner. The members said cases can be heard in a two-phased manner with physical hearing in the morning and video conference in the afternoon after obtaining the consent of both side advocates.

Court sources also said that after a few of the judges raised objections on the present video calling software, the court is set to explore other programmes for the effective functioning of the virtual courts.

During the last meeting held on June 22, the committee ordered for the physical functioning of district courts and also in the taluk level in 25 districts of the state where COVID-19 spread was comparatively less. The high court registry also in an internal circular to all its subordinate courts permitted the installation of a transparent screen in between the dais and advocates. The aim was to prevent the spread of Covid 19.