New Delhi, Sep 12 (IANS): In the backdrop of calls from various Bar associations to resume physical hearings of cases, data collated by the Delhi High Court Registry reveals that 94 per cent of the advocates preferred virtual hearings over physical hearings.
According to data collected in September, of the 2,621 requests for urgent listing of matters, 2,478 advocates/parties preferred virtual hearings to continue on the mentioning link amid the Covid-19 pandemic whereas merely 143 preferred physical hearings.
And, as per data available on the e-filing link for the High Court, out of 1,516 applications filed in September, 1,438 preferred virtual hearings and only 78 physical hearings.
Similarly, only 13 per cent of the advocates or parties involved in different cases appeared in person, as per the data collated from all the district courts in Delhi.
These statistics collated by the HC Registry were deliberated upon extensively by the Full Court in a meeting held through videoconference. "It was noted by the Full Court that such data emphatically revealed that around 94 per cent of the advocates had indicated their preferred mode of hearings was 'virtual' on the designated mentioning link/e-filing module of the High Court," said a senior court official.
The official said that most advocates expressed reluctance to appear physically and requests in large numbers were received for taking up the matters through videoconference.
According to the Registry, physical appearances in the High Court were largely before single benches exercising criminal jurisdiction whereas such appearances before other benches was relatively low.
The Full Court noted that the number of Covid-19 cases has been rising alarmingly in the NCT of Delhi, and the court decided not to discontinue physical hearings despite this and allocated suitable number of benches for it.
"The new roster, effective from September 15, has been prepared and uploaded. The Principal District and Sessions Judges have also been asked to review the requirement of number of physical courts in their respective districts and send a report for consideration by the committee constituted for Preparation of Graded Action Plan," the official added.
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