Mr. Rajiv Khosla Chairman of Bar Council of Delhi's IT Cell has written a letter to the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court requesting him to allow a hybrid system of hearing in all the courtrooms. Mr. Khosla suggested the hybrid system which permits one junior Counsel with main Counsel during the physical hearing on a similar pattern being followed in the case of appearance of designated Senior Advocates.
Mr. Rajiv Khosla said that there is no doubt that the threat of a pandemic is not over but then life cannot be brought to a standstill when it is not certain as to when the covid-19 period is over. This is the reason when Hon’ble Supreme Court give a go-ahead to hold various competitive exams for higher studies and some were even successfully held, even Supreme Court did not interfere in the decision of the Election Commission to hold assembly polls for the State of Bihar, which is a clear sign by the Hon'ble Supreme Court to concur on the line of the Hon'ble Prime Minister that “The life must go on”.
He further said that yet there is a restrictive hearing which is utter shock and hardship to some lawyers. It is evident that the physical mode is the best mode for all the times where all the parties are given sufficient opportunity to give counter-arguments to each other and judges also have the opportunity to analyze the conduct of the parties. The hybrid mode of hearing is the best way to satisfy all the sections of Bar who are interested in video conference or physical hearing.
In the letter, Mr. Rajiv Khosla informs the Chief Justice of Delhi Court that an assessment has been sought from an IT expert on financial requirements for enabling the court room to follow the hybrid system. According to a report, a total sum of 10 to 12 crore would be sufficient for setting up the requisite IT infrastructure in all the court rules of Delhi High Court. The letter states that the installation of the hybrid system won't take more than a week and the same would save a large number of lawyers who are in difficulty to make their ends meet and also in financial crisis.
