Conflicting opinions have emerged between lawyers and court staff, with the former insisting on conducting open court hearings in all courts across the State, and the latter expressing concerns that COVID-19 would spread further if lawyers are also allowed to attend court proceedings in person.
The Madras High Court had permitted open court hearings in 9 districts — Dharmapuri, Nilgiris, Krishnagiri, Tiruvarur, Theni, Ramanathapuram, Nagapattinam, Karur and Sivaganga — from Monday, with a rider that only five lawyers would be permitted in each court hall at a time.
Speaking to journalists here on Tuesday, P.S. Amalraj, chairman, Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, said open court hearings should be permitted in all courts in the State, since the present system of conducting hearings through videoconference was “not effective”.
He said lawyers were ready to abide by any condition imposed by the High Court to prevent the spread of COVID-19, but were very particular that open court hearings should be allowed at least for urgent and important cases such as those for bail, anticipatory bail and so on.
On the other hand, the Madras High Court staff feared that the threat of COVID-19 would increase if lawyers were also allowed to enter the court campus. They pointed out that all judges of the court had already begun hearing cases through videoconference from their chambers.
“These hearings necessitate the presence of sufficient number of High Court staff. Though special government buses are being operated for the High Court staff on different routes, physical distancing is going for a toss in some of the routes due to crowding.
“Already, an officer in the rank of Deputy Registrar has tested positive for COVID-19 and quarantined with his family. When we are working under such challenging circumstances, allowing lawyers as well to attend the court [proceedings] would do nothing but invite trouble,” a court official said.