On Friday, the Supreme Court of India made an exception to its own ruling and directed that trial in a Matrimonial Dispute be held via Video Conferencing in view of the pertaining COVID-19 pandemic.
A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India, SA Bobde decided to carve out an exception in this regard to the General Principle laid down by the Supreme Court in the case of Santhini vs. Vijaya Venkatesh in which the Supreme Court had ruled that video conferencing cannot be mandated in matrimonial proceedings.
The Court said:
"In the normal course we would not have directed video conferencing in respect of matrimonial matters as per the judgment of this Court mentioned above. However, in the present situation where all proceedings are conducted through video conferencing, we direct the Family Court, District Gautambudh Nagar, UP to conduct the trial through video conferencing."
The petitioner-wife in her Review Petition mentioned that there is no video conference facility in the Uttar Pradesh Court and that video conference was not permissible in Matrimonial Matters as per the Supreme Court judgment in Santhini vs. Vijaya Venketesh.
The Bench then noted owing to the pandemic, proceedings in all Courts are running through Virtual Mode.
"Due to the ongoing pandemic, physical functioning of the Courts has been stopped since March, 2020. Proceedings in all Courts are being conducted only through video conferencing," the Court noted.
The order was passed by a Bench comprising of Chief Justice of India, SA Bobde, Justice L Nageswara Rao and Justice Vineet Saran on 22-01-2021.
Read Order Here:
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