Delhi HC dismisses plea for virtual court proceedings

The Delhi High Court on Monday dismissed a plea seeking direction to take sufficient steps to adopt virtual court proceedings through video conferencing as a norm.

The plea stated that the counsels, litigants, parties and courts should be at liberty to proceed in any matter through virtual courts if the physical appearance is not really necessary.

The bench of Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh, after noting down the submission, decided to dismiss the plea.

Petitioner Mujeeb Ur Rehman, a practicing lawyer in Delhi also stated that the COVID-19 pandemic is neither vanished nor all the people have been vaccinated for it, so the danger is still continuing, and it may continue for years.

Advocate Mujeeb Ur Rehman further stated that Registrar General of Delhi HC's order dated February 11, 2022, directed that all the proceedings in the High Court of Delhi vis-a-vis courts and tribunals over which this Court has jurisdiction shall be through physical hearings only and allowed hybrid/virtual hearings only in exceptional circumstances on a case-to-case basis.

The plea further stated that it's not always necessary to be physically present before the court in each and every proceeding, so in such proceedings, the counsels, litigants, parties and courts may opt for virtual hearing through video conferencing to reduce the chances of unnecessary physical contacts with the public at large.

"Another aspect of virtual court proceedings is the optimum use of time and efficiency by both the courts and the counsels which in turn could be utilized to dispose of a maximum number of cases on daily basis and to reduce the huge pendency before the courts and virtual court proceedings are environment conservation by reducing the use of papers," the plea read.

( With inputs from ANI )