Supreme Court lawyer aggrieved by lack of virtual access to court proceedings in Jaipur writes letter to Registrar of Rajasthan High Court
Advocate on record Shobha Gupta has made a representation to the Registrar General of the Jaipur-based bench of the Rajasthan High Court, seeking rectification of the errors in the virtual court access due to which she was unable to appear in the case in which she was arguing. Was doing.
The lawyer said that missing the posting date could be detrimental in many cases, adding that this error had happened to him twice.
He cited the apex court’s judgment in Sarvesh Mathur vs Registrar General, Punjab and Haryana High Court 2023 Live Law (SC) 871, in which a three-judge bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Mishra directed that all The higher courts should ensure that no member of the bar is denied access to hearing through video conferencing facilities or hybrid facility.
In the complaint dated 1.11.2023, the lawyer said that virtual access does not just mean ‘permission/access to one’s own case’, but access to ‘the entire court proceedings’. He wrote that this principle has been adopted and implemented by the Jodhpur bench, which reduces the chances of advocates missing the opportunity to enter the courtroom.
The lawyer claimed that when he tried to appear virtually in a case, he was kept in the lobby indefinitely without being able to enter the video conferencing. According to the lawyer, she could only see a message on the screen saying ‘You can join the meeting once accepted by the host.’ However, according to the Court Master/Moderator, the counsel was not found in the lobby at the relevant time and hence the matter was adjourned.
On the other hand, the lawyer claims that she was waiting in the lobby when the above information of the Court Master was conveyed by the local lawyer present there. He has attached relevant screenshots in this regard.
The lawyer has therefore urged to immediately resolve any technical glitches or upgrade the virtual court system, if it needs to be upgraded.
