SC judges to hear urgent cases from home office via video conference

An SC circular Thursday said the court “shall continue to function and to hear matters involving extreme urgency, till further orders in this regard”.

On March 23, the apex court had begun hearing cases through video conferencing for the first time in its history. This was done due to the COVID-19 situation — to avoid crowding and make it easier for lawyers and clients to access the court.

Sitting in Court 1, a bench of Chief Justice S A Bobde and Justice Chandrachud took up two matters that day.
Although some matters were listed for hearing before two benches headed by Justices Chandrachud and Nageswar Rao on March 25, this was adjourned the night before after the government declared 21-day lockdown to tackle the spread of COVID-19.

Compared to March 23, the difference this time is that the video conferencing facilities have been put up in the residential offices of judges. This means that they too will not have to travel to the SC for hearing matters.

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