'Young Advocates Are Suffering A Lot' : Senior Adv Fali S Nariman Supports Physical Functioning Of Courts

Amid the differences of opinion in the legal fraternity regarding the need to continue hybrid functioning of courts, Senior Advocate Fali S Nariman expressed his support for complete physical hearings.

Speaking at an online lecture hosted by the Indian Law Institute-Kerala Unit in association with LiveLaw, Mr.Nariman said that if the health situation is conducive, courts must revert to physical hearings.

He was responding to a query posed by a participant regarding his views about the present system of online courts and hybrid hearing.

"I am sorry dear, that is due to the unfortunate disease that we are afflicted with. I am totally...I mean if you ask me....if the conditions are good, then of course, we must have (physical hearings)", he said.

He said that even for a lecture, it will be far better spoken and received if it is delivered physically, with direct interactions with the listeners, than through a device.

"It will be much more fun to have interaction with the students than to speak through a medium which is totally adverse to any form of receptivity", he said.

"Therefore, as soon as we come out of all this, I suppose we will resume", he said.

Mr.Nariman stressed that young people are suffering a lot due to the virtual functioning of the courts, though the seniors are not much affected.

"In the Supreme Court at least I know, the young advocates are suffering a lot. The senior advocates are alright. They are able to address people. The younger advocates find it very difficult. But of course, we have to weigh the two...health is paramount", he said.

In a related note, the Supreme Court today had complete physical hearings, for the first time since March 2020 when it switched to virtual mode with the onset of COVID-19. The Supreme Court Bar Association and the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association have been making consistent demands for the resumption of physical hearings with the abatement of the pandemic. The bar associations highlighted that the virtual functioning has affected several sections of the bar, especially the junior members.

Following the demands of the bar associations, the Supreme Court on October 7 decided to have mandatory physical hearings on Wednesdays and Thursdays, with the hybrid option retained on the other days.

However, there is another section of the bar which wants to retain the hybrid system on all days. Yesterday, a group of senior lawyers represented by Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal requested the Chief Justice of India to retain the hybrid option saying that in voluminous cases involving several briefing lawyers, physical hearings will be difficult within the restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 protocol. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, Senior Advocates Dr.AM Singhvi and Mukul Rohatgi backed the request of Mr.Sibal. The CJI agreed to discuss the issue with his colleagues.

Mr.Nariman was delivering the lecture on the topic "Becoming an Advocate". During his talk which lasted for nearly an hour, he gave several pieces of advice for a successful legal practice.

The full lecture may be viewed here(The portion about physical hearing is from 57.00 minutes) :