The Delhi High Court has decided to continue the graded physical hearing in its premises, But the number of Benches have been reduced that would sit for physical hearings in view of the rising COVID-19 cases.
During physical hearings, most of the Advocates expressed their inability, reluctance or unwillingness to appear physically and large number of requests were received for taking up the matters through videoconferencing. The criminal jurisdiction of the High Court witnessed a considerable number of physical appearances.
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Further, on the designated mentioning link/e-filing module of the High Court, around 94% of the Advocates indicated their preferred mode of hearing as ‘virtual’ mode.
Despite the adverse circumstances, which included several staff testing positive for COVID-19, the Full Court resolved to continue with the hearing albeit with a suitable number of Benches.
As per the roster effective from September 15 to October 8, three Benches would conduct court proceedings through physical mode. Benches would continue to sit on a rotation basis.
