Bombay High Court To Partially Re-Start Physical Hearings From August 2; Hybrid System To Be Implemented

The committee decided that the High Court shall work physically on three days and virtually on one day, the Bombay Bar Association's standing committee said in a statement.

According to BBA it has further been decided as follows -

1. Steps will be taken to implement a fully hybrid system in all courtrooms in Bombay High Court and existing hybrid courts will continue to operate on a hybrid basis.

2. Circulation of matters shall be via precipice sent by emails for the time being. Mentioning on virtual platform will be permitted.

3. The Central Government and State Government officials will work out modalities to facilitate travel of lawyers and clerks/staff ( who have taken 2 jabs) to travel by train by issuance of a monthly pass.

4. Litigants will be permitted inside court premises only if their presence is required by the Court.

5. The instructions and standard operating procedures for the aforesaid shall be circulated by the Registry in a couple of days.

"The administrative committee of the Bombay High Court convened a meeting with all bar associations today. The Municipal Commisisoner- Mr. Chahal and State Government officials were present. They briefed the members of the Associations and stated that due to increase in number of vaccinations and reduction in number of positive cases detected per day, physical functioning of courts can commence."

The Bombay HC at its principal seat in Mumbai and benches at Aurangabad, Nagpur, and the Bombay High Court at Goa is hearing matters virtually since April 2021, owing to the covid-19 second wave. As a result, the courts are mainly taking up urgent matters.

Since courts across the state are functioning at limited capacity, the HC has regularly extended the life of its interim orders preventing evictions, demolitions. (SUO MOTU PIL NO. 1 OF 2021).

Hearing a PIL by the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa, the Chief Justice had asked the state to consider allowing lawyers to commute on local trains by July 1, owing to the lack of public transportation and the increase in pendency of cases before various courts.

"…Otherwise, one year later, the pendency will be such that even if you have 100 judges in the Bombay High Court we will not be able to get matters disposed of," the bench had observed.

Apart from the Bombay High Court's administrative committee and members of the State Task Force, Advocate General of Maharashtra Ashutosh Kumbhakoni, Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, representatives of the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa, Bombay Bar Association, Advocates Association of Western India (AAWI), Bombay Incorporated Law Society were present at the meeting.