App Ki Adaalat: HC logs in to carry out proceedings

Sanjay Sahay | Apr 9, 2020, 05:00 IST

Ranchi: With court proceedings shut owing to the ongoing nationwide lockdown, Jharkhand high court has now started using an app — Vidyo app — to carry out the proceedings on important matters and it has directed Ranchi district court to do the same.
The vidyo app enables the lawyers to connect with all the stakeholders through video conference. They have to click a link provided by the court to participate in the court proceedings. The high court has also kept another app called ‘Zoom’ as a standby in case a technical glitch occurs with the Vidyo app, a court official said.
In the last few days, a court of Justice Rongon Mukhopadhaya granted bail to an assistant professor at Doranda College, Shilpi Singh, who was in jail. Similarly, in another case, a division bench, led by Chief Justice Ravi Ranjan, rejected the leave petition application against an order that had stated that aspirants with a graduation/post-graduation degree in ancient India, medieval India or modern India are not eligible to be appointed as high school teachers as per an advertisement published by the staff selection commission in 2016. On Wednesday, the high court also rejected the bail petition of MLA Dhullu Mahto by using the app.
Registrar General Ambuj Nath said, “Under the prevailing circumstances, hearings through video conference will be a regular feature in the high court.”
Commenting on the new method, high court lawyer Indrajit Sinha said it is the only option available under the present circumstances. He added, “The court cannot be shut for a long period of time. The filing process in the court should be streamlined and made more accessible to people living in other parts of the state.”
Sanjay Vidrohi, the former general secretary of Ranchi district bar association, said, “This is a positive step but many lawyers do not know how it works. There is an urgent need to educate and train the lawyers about the new method.”