CJI hints at resumption of physical hearing in Supreme Court soon

Chief Justice of India (CJI) Nuthalapati Venkata Ramana on Wednesday hinted during a hearing that physical hearing may start after a week or 10 days.

"The physical hearing in the court may start in a week or ten days and the technical glitches in virtual hearing would soon become a thing of past," the CJI said, during a hearing, when senior Supreme Court lawyer and former Attorney General (AG) of India, Mukul Rohatgi was appearing in a case before him.

The top court made this observation while it was hearing a case involving the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) against the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) and a number of lawyers, on various occasions, had said that after the second wave was over and as the pandemic is restricted and controlled, that's why it was of the opinion and had written letters to the CJI Ramana, advocating for initiation of physical hearings.

Many lawyers also had written letters to the CJI pleading to start physical hearings before the Supreme Court, citing that their financial and economic conditions worsened due to the absence of the physician hearings before the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court had been functioning in virtual mode since March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Though the apex court switched to hybrid functioning (with options of virtual and physical hearings) during March this year, soon it started to complete virtual hearing after the second wave hit the country.