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New VC Platform For Supreme Court Soon : Justice Chandrachud Says Tender Awarded To Best Player
Mehal Jain
12 July 2021 3:54 PM IST
Justice Chandrachud also communicated that all judges of the Supreme Court are equipped with 1000 MBPS internet connection speed to do away with any disturbances, as these VC hearings demand a greater bandwidth.
In context of the quality of virtual hearings, Justice D. Y. Chandrachud on Monday communicated that the Supreme Court has already awarded the tender to a platform which will commence operations soon.The remark came when the bench of Justices Chandrachud and Hrishikesh Roy reconvened after lunch but Justice Roy could not immediately join on account of some technical glitch."We ...
In context of the quality of virtual hearings, Justice D. Y. Chandrachud on Monday communicated that the Supreme Court has already awarded the tender to a platform which will commence operations soon.
The remark came when the bench of Justices Chandrachud and Hrishikesh Roy reconvened after lunch but Justice Roy could not immediately join on account of some technical glitch.
"We put out an all-India tender, the best players responded and they were all duly evaluated. It is not that these things were not looked at at all. Being the highest court in the country, we didn't just say 'pick any one'. There was Google Meet, there was Jio, etc...A technical committee was constituted to evaluate the bids and this was followed by a presentation of shortlisted bidders. The tender has been awarded and the work has begun. The system is being stabilised and the Supreme Court is in the process of handing over everything to them", told the judge, who is the Chairman of the Supreme Court E-Committee.The Supreme Court is currently using the 'Vidyo' platform, which has come under criticism often for lack of user-friendliness.
'Cisco Webex could not be customised to allow for an open court'
When an advocate suggested that Cisco Webex is a video-conferencing platform which has been working very well and has found favour with the bar, Justice Chandrachud said that Cisco Webex was not found to be suitable for the Supreme Court as it could not allow for "open court" hearings. "We considered Cisco also but Cisco WebEx was found not suitable for the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court is an open court. It is not just those lawyers who would be appearing in a matter who can access the hearings here, unlike the Delhi High Court. Cisco could not customise it for us", told the judge.
Justice Chandrachud said that for the High Courts, the E-Committee left it to the Chief Justices to pick up their platform depending upon their local configuration and other factors. "Madhya Pradesh uses Jitsi. Gujarat High Court is continuing with Zoom. The Bombay High Court uses WebEx", told the judge.
The bench was told that the Telangana High Court has adopted a system of permanent links where anybody can enter at any time and exit and it is no different from regular court.
"Actually, it depends upon the nature of work, the nature of the court- it cannot be that one size fits all. In the Supreme Court, being the highest court of the country, the pressure of demand for links is very high. For example, there is one PIL, there are more than 50 people who might want to link", remarked Justice Chandrachud.
The judge also told that in the new software which is being put into action, the court would have the ability to mute participants, ensuring that there are no disturbances and everybody except for the advocates appearing in a matter is muted.
Justice Chandrachud also communicated that all judges of the Supreme Court are equipped with 1000 MBPS internet connection speed to do away with any disturbances, as these VC hearings demand a greater bandwidth. The judge also said that there is even a back-up data connection.
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