Nagpur: Glitches mar district court online hearings, lawyers hassled

NAGPUR: Ever since online hearing commenced at the district and sessions court here, lawyers are complaining of numerous glitches.
After many lawyers and litigants thronging the court premises were infected by Covid-19, online hearing was introduced last month. In fact, over 40 lawyers and a couple of retired judges have succumbed to the infection in April, say sources.
According to lawyers, they are facing several glitches — like link not opening, access denied and server problems etc — right from the first day.
“Even if we luckily get access, we have to wait for hours. I have a case of an accused selling Remdesivir illegally, and the high court has ordered the trial to be completed within 15 days. Chief judicial magistrate court isn’t conducting online hearing and lawyers aren’t allowed to enter the court’s premises. How are we expected to appear in the case?” asked a lawyer.
Lawyer Ranjan Deshpande said there was no planning and due to sudden implementation of videoconferencing, there was chaos in the lower courts. “It’s over a year since Covid-19 pandemic has hit the country, but no infrastructure has been put in place. We all are confused on what to do now,” he said.
The court administration as well as Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa should come out with an insurance scheme for lawyers so that their families would get some relief in case of tragedy. “Many from our fraternity have lost their lives. Therefore, health insurance of Rs5 lakh should be introduced for all lawyers,” he said.
Other lawyers questioned how the high court’s online hearing worked seamlessly since last year, and why the same system was not implemented in the district court. “Today we had to go to the court premises after failing to get access. But the court officials too were clueless about the glitches. The administration needs to boost the online infrastructure to make it accessible to all, just like the HC,” they said.
PDJ, DBA prez meet HC judge with lawyers’ grievances
Principal district judge Sanjay Mehere and District Bar Association (DBA) president Kamal Satuja met a senior judge at Nagpur bench of Bombay high court on Monday to discuss the problems faced by lawyers in online hearing and requested him to allow a hybrid mode — physical hearing for those who’re unable to use online facility or couldn’t connect due to technical glitches — to attend cases.
“We’ve made a request to provide four extra computers and video links at the ground floor of Nyay Mandir so that lawyers can plead their cases, if they fail to get connected. The issue would be resolved soon” they said.