Delhi high court Judges hear cases from home via video

 It was an extraordinary situation in Delhi HC on Wednesday, when judges had to conduct hearing via video conferencing from home, as some of the essential court staff couldn’t reach court due to the lockdown.

A bench of justices Siddharth Mridul & Talwant Singh innovated, since an urgent plea highlighted the plight of around 300 Indian students stranded at Almaty Airport in Kazakhstan for the past two-three days without food or medical aid due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

In absence of availability of the three court rooms prepared by High Court administration for virtual hearings on Monday, the judges & lawyers made use of video-multi conferencing option of WhatsApp to conduct hearings from respective homes/offices to ensure necessary orders are issued & passed on to the govt to act.

The bench during the hearing asked the ministry of external affairs (MEA) & concerned authorities to immediately arrange for basic amenities & assistance for the stranded students.

Advocate Fozia Rahman, who appeared for the petitioner Sehla Saira, informed the court that 300 Indian students, who are enrolled for higher studies at Semey Medical University in Kazakhstan are stranded without food, water, transportation & medical aid. Saira is mother of one of the students. The court issued notice to the Centre through ministry of external affairs (MEA) & granted time to file response by Mar 28.

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