New Delhi: A committee of seven Supreme Court judges has apprised the bar leaders of its decision to not open the apex court for physical hearings "for the time being" and would meet them again after two weeks to reconsider the issue.
The apex court, since March 25, has been holding courts through video conferencing due to a nationwide lockdown and even after the restrictions were relaxed, it has decided to continue with the hearing through virtual courts.
The panel headed by the senior-most judge after the CJI, justice N V Ramana, met Bar Council Chairperson Manan Kumar Mishra, Supreme Court Bar Association President Dushyant Dave and Shivaji Jadhav, the president of Supreme Court Advocates on Records Association, Friday to apprise them of its decision to not resume physical hearings.
"At the outset, Secretary General (of the Supreme Court) read out the minutes of the meeting of the committee (of judges) which had taken place earlier in which it was decided, inter-alia, not to open the Supreme Court for physical hearings for the time being as per advice of medical experts.
"It was also decided by their lordships to meet the representatives of the Bar after two weeks and then to restart the working of the court in a phased manner," Dave wrote to lawyers about the meeting.
Dave and Jadhav told the judges' panel that they were clear about the starting of the physical hearings as soon as possible, while continuing with virtual court hearings with improved system for limited types of matters.