The Supreme Court takes strong exception to the appearance of a senior lawyer via video conference
A senior lawyer’s appearance by video conference Friday was strongly criticized by the Supreme Court, which directed him to appear in person in court.
This behaviour of not appearing in court is unacceptable, according to Justices Ajay Rastogi and C T Ravikumar.
“We do not understand the nature of this business. What is the reason for your absence from court? The court will be open from 10 am to 5 pm. The situation is unacceptable. In order to argue the cases, lawyers remain physically present in the courtroom. In the course of five minutes, you appear on the screen and then leave. For a variety of reasons, you are very busy as a lawyer. “We do not appreciate this,” the bench stated.
The bench refused to hear the matter in which the lawyer had appeared online and firmly requested that he appear in court on Monday.
It was agreed that the lawyer would yield. As he stated, “Whatever the court decides is the final word of law.”
Due to the pandemic, the top court has been hearing cases via video conference since March 2020. From time to time, it relaxed or tightened the conditions based on the changing circumstances.
The apex court heard cases on Tuesdays through the hybrid mode only, in order to prevent overcrowding on miscellaneous days, such as Mondays and Fridays.
A ‘miscellaneous day’ in the Supreme Court is a day on which new petitions are to be heard for admission to the court.
