"Don't Want To Replace Physical Hearing, Idea Is To Show Flexibility Of Indian Judicial System": Justice DY Chandrachud

"The idea is to show flexibility of the Indian Judicial system. Not for a moment do we want to replace the physical hearing." said Justice Chandrachud during launch of Supreme Court's new website for Judgments and e-Filing 3.0.

He said this, with reference to Bombay High Court's recent decision to switch to virtual hearings again from physical hearings in wake of surge in Covid19 cases.

Justice Chandrachud further said that while they don't wish to replace physical hearing, they are conscious of the need to protect public health of the lawyers, litigants who come to Courts across the country.

During the virtual event organised by Supreme Court's eCommittee, Justice Chandrachud who is also the Chairman of the Committee spoke about several initiatives that have been and are being taken by the Committee. He clarified that the purpose of these initiatives is not to replace the system of oral hearing, but to make services more friendly to the Bar, and for litigants for whom they exist.

"Let me assuage to all members of Bar, for someone like me who holds everything to the Bar, nothing could be further from my mind than to replace the strength and resilience of the open court system" Justice Chandrachud said.

Justice Chandrachud also said that the video conferencing were initiated as platform to answer problems of pandemic , again not to replace oral hearings but to ensure that courts were functional and available to those whose rights were being infringed.

"We cannot be successful unless the lawyers are on board. Involvement of Bar is critical for success of project" Justice Chandrachud said, referring to the new website for Judgments and e-Filing 3.0 which will also provide training videos to train the lawyers,