All the courts in every taluk and district in the State should be provided with the best possible videoconference system for the hearing of cases when the capital city has been acclaimed as the “Silicon Valley of India”, said the High Court of Karnataka.
“The State and the High Court should ensure that the best possible infrastructure to hold videoconference hearings is provided to all the courts, so that they can become role models for courts in other States,” said a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Suraj Govindaraj.
The Bench was hearing a PIL petition initiated suo motu by the court last year to address the legal and technical issues arising in the functioning of courts because of the pandemic.
Noting that the functioning of the district and taluk courts has been badly affected, resulting in the creation of arrears of cases during the first and second waves of COVID-19, the Bench emphasised that the judicial system had to be in a state of preparedness to face a possible third wave. And hence, the Bench said, there cannot be any dispute that all the courts in the State should have a proper hybrid system (both physical and videoconference) of hearings in place.
The Bench also said that all the courts must be provided with a licensed version of the Zoom application that is being successfully used in the High Court’s principal seat and the Benches at Dharwad and Kalaburagi.
The videoconference system of the taluk and district courts can be provided in a phased manner while giving priority to the courts of the Principal District Judges, all the Sessions Courts, and all the Courts of Civil Judges taking up criminal matters, the Family Courts and the Commercial Court establishments in the entire State, the Bench said.