New Delhi, March 30: The Supreme Court of India will revert to full scale physical functioning from April 4 next week, more than two years after it had adopted virtual functioning due to COVID-19 pandemic, reports Bar and Bench.
The decision was announced by Chief Justice of India NV Ramana on open court on Wednesday.
“Monday and Friday we will provide links if advocates want,” the CJI said.
The Supreme Court Bar Association President Vikas Singh thanked the CJI on behalf of the Bar.
The Supreme Court is currently hearing matters physically non-miscellaneous days, i.e Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursday while cases are heard via video conference on miscellaneous days i.e. Mondays and Fridays.
The Supreme Court first started hearing cases via video conferencing on March 23, 2020 after the outbreak of Covid-19. The top court had issued a circular on March 23 suspending entry of lawyers and litigants to the court premises and directing that only urgent cases will be taken up for hearing through video conferencing.
It had subsequently attempted to restart physical hearings in March 2021 before the second wave of pandemic forced the top court to go back to virtual mode.
The Court had again restarted limited physical hearing in October 2021 before once again going virtual in January 2022 due to the third wave.
After the cases declined, it restarted physical hearings on non-miscellaneous days in February 2022 which is continuing.
