Maharashtra: Chaos at sessions court as lawyers wait for up to two hours for cause list

MUMBAI/THANE: The first day of an almost full-fledged opening of the sessions court was marked by chaos with some lawyers being forced to wait for as long as two hours outside the premises at Kala Ghoda and some even advised to return home as their matters were not listed for the day. This prompted advocate Sudeep Pasbola, committee member, Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa, to write to the principal judge expressing concerns about the situation and proposing some measures.
"Today, there was utter chaos at the court entrance. The advocates were made to wait, for want of the cause list, for a very long time. After more than an hour, staff arrived with the cause list, which, however, contained details of only a few matters," the advocate said.
Among the requests, Pasbola has sought for the cause list to be circulated in advance through the official website and social media. He has also requested that only urgent matters may be listed and no adverse action should be taken against lawyers in case they are unable to attend a hearing.
An advocate who had come to the city civil and sessions court to secure bail for an attempt-to-murder accused on grounds of the pandemic, said he waited for around two hours outside court. "When I finally went in, it took me over an hour to find the exact courtroom where my matter was listed. After being sent to three different courtrooms when I finally reached the right one, my matter had already been called out and adjourned to June 23," he said, adding after requests, the public prosecutor got it rescheduled to Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the principal district judge of Thane district on Monday issued a circular to judicial officers to intimate the district bar association about details of matters to be heard one day in advance and other guidelines to ease the functioning of courts.
The notification had eased the confusion among the lawyers here on the working of the courts, said Maharashtra and Goa bar council member advocate Gajanan Chavan. Principal district judge R M Joshi held a meeting with the office bearers of the bar council and released a circular in which he took some of the decisions for further working of the courts.