Bar Council seeks regular court sittings from June

In view of relaxations in COVID-19 related restrictions, Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry has sought regular court sittings from June, saying video conferencing is not proving effective enough.

Chennai: With the easing of COVID-19 induced lockdown regulations, the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry has sought regular court sittings from June saying advocates are unable to present their case effectively through video conferencing.

In a letter to the Madras High Court Chief Justice AP Sahi, S Amal Raj, Chairman of the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, requested the Chief Justice to conduct regular court sittings in the Madras High Court and it's Bench at Madurai and all subordinate courts from June 2020.

"It is brought to the notice of the Bar Council by several advocates that no proceedings took place through video conferencing effectively, more particularly in subordinate courts, since the link was not available to the advocates.

Further, even if the link is available, they are not able to present their case effectively through video conferencing and the hearing through video conferencing has not always been smooth due to the audio disruptions and the network problem," he said in the letter.

"Now, some relaxations have been made by the Government also during the lockdown period. Therefore, the advocates who are having cases are willing to present their case in the court itself by maintaining the norms fixed by the Registry."

Requesting the Chief Justice to consider the welfare of the litigant public, who are affected during this lockdown period, the Chairman said advocates were ready to comply with the norms prescribed by the WHO like wearing a mask, using sanitizers and maintain social distancing.

(PTI report)