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Members of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) have written to the Chief Justice of India, SA Bobde, expressing displeasure over the non-resumption of physical court hearings.

In the letter, SCBA members stated that over the last 10 months, the counsel/members of the bar practicing before Supreme Court were going through a very difficult phase, owing to the fact that virtual hearings have failed to serve as an “effective justice delivery system”.

It has also been pointed out that many judges and even the Attorney General for India had expressed annoyance regarding the effectiveness of virtual hearings.

The letter has further noted that most members of the bar were from across state's in India and were presently at Delhi for practicing law.

However, due to the paucity of work and non-resumption of physical hearings, many of them were being compelled to return home, leaving their practice behind as courts continue to hear cases via an online system.

Stating that SCBA members feel helpless at the lack of access to the Chief Justice and various practical issues viz. online hearings, the advocates have urged the Chief Justice to reconsider the court’s stance on physical hearings, requesting resumption of regular physical hearings in all courts.

Some of the problems with online hearing's listed by the SCBA in its letter include:

- Issues with network and connectivity;

- Improper management by the court’s registry regarding virtual hearing;

- Lack of response to calls by the dealing officers in hand mentioning branch;

- Dismissal of mentioning of urgent matters by the mentioning branch without reason;

- Over 50% of the bar’s young practitioners have been compelled to leave Delhi as they were unable to meet their living expenses;

- Members’ earnings have been hugely impacted.

In the letter, the CJI has been requested to consider the fact that Delhi was one of the first regions to relax lockdown norms and things have returned to near normalcy.

 It also states that offices and most service providers such as airports, malls, metros and even the court’s registry have started functioning.

Citing examples of High Courts such as those in Calcutta, Bombay, Delhi, Allahabad, Kerala, etc., which have adopted both physical as well as virtual hearings, the letter placed a “humble request” before the CJI to consider adopting a hybrid system in the Supreme Court as well. 

Another request was placed to look into the manner in which matters were listed before the court, with the letter alleging that the members of the bar feel helpless at the lack of communication from the mentioning branch.

This, in turn, has resulted in many important matters pending adjudication and have become infructuous, "irrespective of whether these matters are fresh or coming after notice.”