Kashish Jain
The Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association (HCBA) has written to the Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking implementation of a hybrid system or the option of choosing between physical and virtual hearing.
According to the letter, due to resurgence of the Covid-19 pandemic, there is a dire need to implement the hybrid hearing system so that members of the Bar who are very vulnerable to contracting the virus due to pre-existing co-morbidities or who are concerned about the other members of their family who may be aged and vulnerable may have an option to choose from after deciding on what is in the best interests of their family.
The Bar also feels that the Punjab Police personnel is unnecessarily crowding the Court corridors. This is despite the fact that there is no provision for allowing them entry in the first place in the SOP.
It has been requested that the SOP be followed strictly and all police officials are barred from entering the Court premises. They have also put forth the request of sanitising the Court corridors and other court areas regularly.