New Delhi: If the recommendations of a department-related parliamentary committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice are adopted, the virtual courts are going to be a part of our legal procedure on a regular basis even after the COVID-19 pandemic gets over as the panel, in its interim report, has advocated for continuing with the proceedings of courts through video-conferencing.
However, as per the findings of the panel, over 50 per cent of advocates, mostly at the district and lower courts are not having either a laptop or a computer and lack skills required for virtual proceedings.
The committee, which is chaired by senior BJP leader and Rajya Sabha member Bhupender Yadav, submitted its report to Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu on Friday.
Asserting that a court is more of a service than a place, the Parliamentary panel in its report said it is time that the courtroom, regarded as the "last bastion of antiquated working practices", opens its doors to the latest technology.
The panel further suggested that virtual courts in certain categories of cases like appeals and final hearings with the consent of the parties involved should continue as it will pave the way for cheaper and faster means of delivery of justice.
It has also suggested that virtual proceedings can be extended permanently to various Appellate Tribunals like TDSAT, IPAB, NCLAT, etc located across the country which do not require personal appearances of the parties/advocates.
Virtual courts expedite processes and procedures and are an improvement over traditional courts as they are more affordable, citizen-friendly and offer greater access to justice, the panel said in the report which is the first-of-its-kind being presented by any Parliamentary panel on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The panel also noted the shortcomings related to virtual courts in the form of limitations of access, connectivity and skills and urged the government to enable necessary infrastructure for integrating virtual courts into the country's legal ecosystem.
Though legal sanctity was given to video-conferencing by the Supreme Court through its order invoking Article 142 of the Constitution on April 6, 2020, covering all the high courts, the panel recommended making necessary changes in the concerned laws so that the virtual court proceedings are not unnecessarily questioned in the courts.
Virtual courts expedite processes and procedures and are an improvement over traditional courts as they are more affordable, citizen-friendly and offer greater access to justice, the panel said in the report which is the first-of-its-kind being presented by any Parliamentary panel on the impact of the COVID-19
pandemic.
The panel also noted the shortcomings related to virtual courts in the form of limitations of access, connectivity and skills and urged the government to enable necessary infrastructure for integrating virtual courts into the country's legal ecosystem.
Though legal sanctity was given to video-conferencing by the Supreme Court through its order invoking Article 142 of the Constitution on April 6, 2020, covering all the high courts, the panel recommended making necessary changes in the concerned laws so that the virtual court proceedings are not unnecessarily questioned in the courts.