As the Punjab and Haryana High Court has asked the District & Sessions Judge to consider starting physical hearing of cases from Monday, the District Bar Association will meet him to discuss the functioning in view of the order.
DBA president Gurkirpal Singh Gill said in its recent order, the HC had told the District & Sessions Judge that it is his discretion to decide on physical hearing depending on Covid-19 situation in his district. He added that as per the order, the District & Sessions Judge will decide which cases will be heard & how many Courts will sit.
“If physical hearing is started in every type of case, then there will be a rush. So the types & number of cases, number of courts, among others, need to be decided. On Monday, we will be meeting the district & sessions judge to discuss the functionalities, after which we will also come to know whether clients have to come or not for physical hearings,” the DBA president added. He said for ten months, Courts were not functioning, so advocates had no work, besides there was pendency too.
Many Lawyers are for physical hearing. “It should start soon as more than 80% lawyers are facing financial problems. Psychologically too, until the client comes to court, he does not feel that his work has been done & as a result he tells advocates that he will give fees at the next date of hearing. So it is necessary to start physical hearing, but government guidelines related to Covid-19, like wearing masks & social distancing, should be followed,” said advocate Yogesh Khanna. “Normally, the average daily footfall is more than 50,000 at district courts. As there are 65 to 70 Courts, things can be managed to lower the footfall. Also, it is important to allow hearing in certain cases,” he added.
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