GUWAHATI: The unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic has compelled the Supreme Court and the High Courts in India to hear litigation through video conferencing, ensuring that justice is not delayed. Lawyers have now urged the apex judicial institution to continue with this facility in the post-pandemic times as well.
The crisis has forced the judicial institutions to make an urgent transformation in the justice delivery systems and devised means to tide over the crisis.
Even prior to the pandemic, legal experts have been demanding extended benches of the Supreme Court in other parts of the country, which has been denied by the government on various occasions.
Bhaskar Dev Konwar, senior advocate at Gauhati High Court, speaking to G Plus said, “The distance of the apex court from the northeastern region has posed as a major hindrance in the way of justice. The exorbitant cost of travelling to Delhi has resulted in many poor litigants not approaching the Supreme Court by way of appeal.”
“To establish Supreme Court benches outside Delhi requires an amendment to the Constitution which was thought not possible or desirable. The highest court itself had earlier rejected the demand saying that it would affect the country’s unitary character,” he added.
However, video conferencing has proved to be a boon in this regard.
Konwar said, “This has opened up a new vista in the justice delivery system of a vast country like India. A lawyer sitting in a small town or village and the litigant from a remote location can also now address the judges of the Supreme Court through video conferencing. By resorting to digital platform, the pressure on the infrastructure of the judiciary has been reduced tremendously and the faith in the system to tackle any crisis has become more robust. Filing in the Supreme Court through online from any part of the country has been made possible through E-Filing.”
The senior council urged that this should continue in the future, even after the pandemic situation has improved for physical attendance. He stated that this will continue to benefit the people of the northeast immensely, where the economic condition of the people is relatively poor.