Supreme Court judge Justice DY Chandrachud has written to Madhya Pradesh High Court Chief Justice Mohammad Rafiq, requesting him to address the concerns raised by the State Bar Council regarding issues associated with video conference hearings.
According to a report by the Bar and Bench, Justice DY Chandrachud wrote to MP High Court Chief Justice Mohammad Rafiq to take corrective measures to address quality concerns regarding poor audio-video quality during video conference hearings.
In the letter dated May 28, Justice Chandrachud has sought Chief Justice Rafiq's personal intervention and oversight in this regard.
"In the event advocates and litigants are facing issues with video conferencing solution provided by your High Court which is impeding their right to access justice effectively, I request you to take corrective measures," the letter said.
In the letter, Justice Chandrachud, who is the Chairperson of the Supreme Court e-committee, said that the apex court's e-committee is working on adopting one video conferencing solution for all courts across India, adding that, till such a uniform system is evolved, courts must ensure that a robust and user-friendly video conference solution is made available to users for effective hearing of court proceedings.
The letter by Justice Chandrachud came after Madhya Pradesh State Bar Council chairperson Dr. Vijay Choudhary wrote to him highlighting concerns being faced by advocates practicing before the Madhya Pradesh High Court due to the video conference hearings being conducted using the ‘Jitsi platform’.
Choudhary's letter to Justice Chandrachud stated that the Jisti platform is neither user-friendly nor convenient for lawyers and litigants.
Choudhary requested for the introduction of a more efficient and user-friendly virtual hearing platforms like Webex Cisco or Zoom to be introduced in the Madhya Pradesh High Court to host virtual hearings.
