Chandigarh District Court allows hybrid mode of hearing

Benefiting lawyers and litigants, the Chandigarh District Court has allowed hybrid mode of hearings in almost all cases. The facility has been become fully functional in all courts now.

Hybrid hearing is one in which at least one participant attends from the courtroom using the room’s audio/video infrastructure, and at least one participant attends remotely, either via a videoconferencing platform or phone, using audio, video, or both.

More and more advocates are now opting for videoconferencing. As per the latest figures, over 80 advocates appeared through videoconferencing to argue cases in different courts in the last two days.

The hybrid hearing facility introduced by the district court has proved useful when normal functioning of the courts is affected due to protests by advocates. For over 20 days, the district court advocates have been abstaining from work and demanding a fair probe and  arrest in the death case of an advocate.

An advocate who appeared through the hybrid mode, said a large number of litigants were facing hardship.

As per data, 40 cases were heard through the hybrid mode on October 24. Of these, 11 cases were decided. Forty-three cases were taken up on October 25, of which 12 were disposed of.

Dedicated links for each court have been provided for hybrid hearing. On an average, 3,000 cases are listed in 30 courts daily. These include civil, criminal and other types of cases.

Vinod K Verma, former vice-president of the District Bar Association, said the authorities concerned must address the grievances of the advocates.