COVID-19 Lockdown : SCBA Appeals For Cancellation Of Summer Vacations To Mitigate Sufferings Of Litigants

The Supreme Court Bar Association passed a resolution of Saturday appealing to the Chief Justice of India to declare the cancellation of summer vacations in the light of the working days lost due to COVID-19 pandemic.

"the SCBA resolves that all lawyers practicing in the Supreme Court will give up the summer vacation which is scheduled from May 16, 2020 till July 5, 2020, and make themselves available for work during that period, in order to make good the loss of court working days between March 15 and April 30, 2020, or any additional days that may be lost thereafter.

Accordingly, the EC resolves to appeal to the Hon'ble the Chief Justice of India and his companion Hon'ble Judges to declare cancellation of Summer Vacation as per existing calendar and instead treat the entire period covered under the same as working of the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in the larger interest of the Litigants and interest of Justice and request them to declare the same at the earliest", the resolution said.

The SCBA said that such measures were necessary "to mitigate the suffering and distress of the litigating public, and to put in place fresh measures for gradually restoring the full functioning of the Supreme Court".

The SCBA further suggested until normal working of the open-courts resume, the existing video-conferencing facilities can be improved by providing for live-streaming as per the SC decision in Swapnil Tripathi case. The lawyers body further suggested the replacement of the existing video-conferencing platform with a "modern, efficient multi-user platform".

"The SCBA further resolves that until normal working of open courts can resume, the temporary video-conferencing facilities be immediately improved by adoption of live-streaming of court proceedings as mandated in Swapnil Tripathi VS. Supreme Court of India, (2018) 10 SCC 639, and by replacement of the existing VIDYO conferencing platform by a modern and efficient multi-user platform such as those provided inter alia by other well known companies or the interactive services being used by the Council of Ministers and officials of the  Government on a daily basis".

"It is only if all contesting lawyers, instructing Advocates in Record, and litigants can have simultaneous access to the video-conferenced proceedings, that the same can become an effective system for conducting full-fledged court proceedings on par with those which our judicial system requires should normally be conducted in open courtrooms", the resolution added.

Click to read resolution

Read Resolution