New Delhi
Chief Justice Sanjeev Khanna on Tuesday asked all the judges to hold virtual hearings as far as possible regarding the increasing pollution in Delhi. As soon as the bench comprising Chief Justice and Justice Sanjay Kumar sat, Supreme Court Bar Association President Kapil Sibal and other lawyers pointed out the worsening pollution situation in Delhi and NCR. All the lawyers demanded immediate measures to deal with this.
Courts will work in hybrid mode
Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna has rejected the request of some senior lawyers. There was a demand from these lawyers to make the functioning of the courts completely virtual. The CJI told the lawyers that the courts will continue to function in hybrid mode. Lawyers can choose virtual medium for hearing.
Kapil Sibal got support from lawyers
CJI said that we have asked all the judges to conduct virtual hearings as far as possible. Sibal said that pollution has gone out of control. Kapil Sibal had the support of many lawyers. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Gopal Shankaranarayanan were also included in it. Kapil Sibal said that it needs to be reduced. Also, this message should reach other courts. The Solicitor General said that the apex court should be virtual in principle.
Supreme Court itself took cognizance of the matter
On Monday, the Supreme Court took cognizance of the AQI reaching the ‘severe plus’ category and directed all Delhi-NCR states to immediately constitute teams to strictly enforce anti-pollution Grup-4 restrictions. Also made it clear that the restrictions related to Grape-4 will continue till further orders.
Grape-4 restrictions will not be lifted without permission
Delhi’s air quality index was recorded at 484 at 8 am on Monday, which is the worst level this season. In some areas AQI even crossed 500. For this reason, news related to the implementation of the ban kept coming. Among these, restrictions related to schools stood out the most. Various efforts like closure of outdoor activities, offline classes were seen in schools of Delhi, Gurugram, Faridabad and Noida.
