High Court: Lower courts not forcing advocates to appear in person

Chandigarh, May 29

The Punjab and Haryana High Court today made it clear that the lower courts under its jurisdiction were not insisting upon or forcing advocates to appear in person for hearing and deciding matters. A Division Bench of the High Court also commended the “exemplary work” being done by the subordinate judiciary.

“There is nothing on record to indicate that any court has insisted upon or forced any advocate to appear in person for hearing and deciding any matter. In fact, the district courts in the states of Punjab, Haryana and Union Territory of Chandigarh are following the guidelines regarding hearing through video-conferencing, or otherwise, issued by the High Court and have been doing exemplary work in this regard,” the Bench of Chief Justice Ravi Shanker Jha and Justice Arun Palli asserted.

The assertion came on a petition filed in public interest by Ferry Sofat against the High Court Registrar-General and other respondents for directions to all district courts under its jurisdiction to follow the video-conferencing guidelines issued by the Supreme Court for hearing of the cases. Directions were also sought to the courts not to insist upon the physical appearance of the advocates during the Covid-19 period.

A litigant cannot engage a counsel without signing or handing over signed/attested ‘vakalatnama, the court said. Dismissing the PIL, the Bench said there was no complaint in this regard and general directions sought for in the petition could not be issued in the absence of a factual foundation. — TNS