Virtual Courts & hearings through video conference should continue even during non-pandemic times with the consent of parties in certain categories of cases such as appeals & final hearings where the physical presence of parties or their lawyer is not required, a parliamentary panel suggested, saying this will pave way for cheaper & faster means of delivery of justice.
The panel observed that such hearings have gained immense ground during the Coronavirus pandemic and will remain a new reality. It suggested that these be extended permanently for appellate tribunals such as the Telecom Dispute Settlement Appellate Tribunal, Intellectual Property Appellate Tribunal, & National Company Law Appellate Tribunal.
“This will cut down the cost & increase efficiency in disposal of the cases without unnecessarily being adjourned. Virtual courts can deliver faster results with fewer resources. They can also reduce commute time to courts & waiting time,” the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law & Justice said in an interim report submitted to Rajya Sabha chairperson M Venkaiah Naidu on Friday.
The report on “Functioning of virtual courts/ court proceedings through video conferencing” underlined that digital justice is cheaper & faster. The panel added it addresses locational & economic handicaps, ensures the safety of vulnerable witnesses providing testimony besides expediting processes & procedures.
BJP lawmaker Bhupender Yadav-led panel said Virtual Courts are an improvement over traditional ones “as they are most affordable, citizen-friendly & offer greater access to Justice”.
Court proceedings have been held digitally for over five months to adhere to social distancing norms as part of the measures to check the spread of the pandemic. Physical hearings of cases in the Apex Court were suspended on March 23. The Supreme Court has been hearing cases via video conferencing since then.
The Apex Court late last month notified standard operating procedure (SOP) to govern physical court hearings which were expected to commence soon but that has not happened yet.
The panel’s recommendations come even as the Bar Council of India & various bar associations have questioned the efficacy of the digital proceedings & pointed to limitations in the infrastructure required for them. They have said digital proceedings favour tech-savvy advocates besides depriving opportunities to many lawyers to change the course of arguments based on the changing dynamics of a case during hearings.
In their submissions to the panel, a representative of the Bar said that at least 50 per cent of Lawyers, mostly at the district & lower levels, do not own laptops or computers & lack the skills required for virtual proceedings.
The panel’s report said that virtual courts will promote access to justice since litigants in remote areas will be able to access the Top Court without spending money on travel to Delhi.
The panel also suggested necessary amendments to the law to give legal validity to virtual courts & their proceedings so that they are not questioned before courts.
As many as 13 out of the 25 high courts in the country have introduced & enabled electronic filing of cases. But district & subordinate courts at many places have been lagging behind due to lack of infrastructure & experience in handling & transitioning to virtual hearings.
The committee, in its report, acknowledged these difficulties & said massive investments would be required to put in place the infrastructure necessary to support digitised hearings. It has suggested the feasibility of new financing approaches like the public-private partnership model for the purpose.
The panel also pointed out that there is no mechanism currently to segregate simple cases from complex ones involving cumbersome procedures & multiple witnesses.
“The principle of Proportionate Justice requires that the expense, speed, complexity, & the extent of combativeness of any case should be proportionate to the substance & scale of that case. Petty cases should be dealt with swiftly in a reasonable timeframe. Such cases should not require cumbersome procedures.”
Virtual courts, the report said, can address this issue.
The committee concluded that physical courts alone will not be sufficient. It added virtual courts will have to be integrated into the country’s legal ecosystem. As a first step towards this, the judiciary should identify cases that can be heard by virtual courts, it suggested.
It also recommended extending virtual courts to cover arbitration hearings.
Other recommendations include setting up of E-Sewa Kendras at all court complexes, speedy execution of National Broadband Mission, the introduction of computer courses for law students, & developing an indigenous software platform to ensure data privacy & safety.
“We have effectively used virtual courts during the lockdown period wherein more than 1.8 million cases were registered across the country, of which nearly 800,000 have been disposed of,” said Yadav.
“Virtual Courts through VC will be an integral part of court hearing in times ahead. It will change meaning of the word court - it will reflect a system of seeking justice than just a place of legal work,” said Vivek Tankha, Congress MP & member of panel.
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