[COVID 19] 'We Have To Fight This At Our Own Level':SC Asks Lawyers To Avoid Overcrowding In Courts

Today, Supreme Court bench comprising of Justices Arun Mishra and MR Shah observed that the spread of Coronavirus was an issue that had to be fought at an individual level.

In a discussion with Senior Advocate CA Sundaram, Justice Mishra noted, "Yeh mahaamaari har sau saal hota hain. Hum ghor kalyug mein virus se fight nahin kar sakte hain."

Observing that this was a case of 'every man for himself', Justice Mishra further said, "See the frailty of humans. You may do anything and everything, you may devise all kinds of weapons. But, you cannot fight this virus. We have to fight this at our own level, we cannot fight this at the government's level."

Senior Advocate invoked Charles Darwin's Theory of Natural Selection to state that it was a case of strong beings overcoming the weaker ones. "The thing is that the mortality rate has increased; Earth will not be able to handle it. There's a reason that older people are the victims of this virus."

Justice MR Shah, to Senior Advocates CA Sundaram and V Giri, stated that the responsibility was also on the Bar to mitigate the overcrowding situation.

"This is a request to the Bar also. A Senior Advocate should only come with one Advocate. You all come with 5-6 advocates. This is ultimately for our sakes."

Sr. Adv. Sundaram suggested that in order to restrict the working of the Supreme Court, matters of demolition, death penalty and eviction should be presented before the judges who had passed orders in the cases. He further suggested that only habeas corpus matters should come before this Bench.

While Justice Mishra agreed to the suggestion, he observed that this could only be decided by the Chief Justice of India SA Bobde and therefore, Mr. Sundaram should approach the appropriate Bench for implementation of his suggestions.