Bombay HC issues guidelines for subordinate courts as Centre eases lockdown restrictions

As the Central Government eased the lockdown restrictions last week, the Bombay High Court has issued fresh guidelines for the functioning of subordinate courts in Maharashtra, Goa and the Union territories of Daman, Diu and Dadra Nagar Haveli.

Currently, subordinate courts are only hearing urgent matters. From Monday, courts located in red zones such as Mumbai Metropolitan Region, Pune, Solapur, Aurangabad, Nashik, Malegaon, Dhule, Jalgaon, Akola, Amravati, and Nagpur will function with 15 percent staff while others will have 50 percent of their employees.

Courts in Mumbai and other red zones have been urged to work for four hours a day in two shifts to hear bail applications other cases where the presence of witnesses is not required. This would mean that cases kept for final orders or judgments as well as revision appeals will be heard.

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In cases with substantial evidence, the court can also record the witness’ statement through video conference if both parties agree. The judges have been directed to make the utmost use of the video conference facility and hear a limited number of cases every day to avoid overcrowding.

In the rest of the state, if there is a spike in COVID-19 cases or if a particular taluka is declared a containment zone, further course of action will be decided by the administration. Other changes in such districts include token system for filing cases, temperature screening of visitors at gates, and bar, including lawyers.

While continuing its virtual hearing, the HC also informed about the increase in the number of benches from June 5. The court has doubled the number of benches and will conduct hearings in two batches – from 10.45 am to 1.45 pm and from 2 pm to 5 pm. Bombay High Court will continue virtual hearings on Tuesdays and Fridays till June 16 to reduce the physical presence of lawyers and litigants.

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Supreme Court considers resuming physical hearings

The Supreme court, on Tuesday, decided to explore the feasibility of the "physical appearance" of advocates in real courtroom hearings after strictly following the coronavirus-triggered lockdown and resorting to virtual hearings since March 25.

Prior to this, the Bar Council of India and few other bar bodies had urged the top court to consider resuming courtroom hearings on various grounds, including that the virtual court system was not working well in favour of many lawyers, who either did not have access to the technology or were not well-versed with it. 

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