Can’t lay down one-size-fits-all solution, says SC; trashes plea for evening, virtual courts

New Delhi, Sep 6 (PTI) “We cannot lay down one-size-fits-all solutions,” the Supreme Court said on Friday while dismissing a PIL seeking a direction for holding virtual hearings besides evening courts in district judiciary across the country.

A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said there cannot be uniform directions on this aspect for all district courts keeping in mind the the complexities of administration.

“Do you know how many district courts there are in the country? You have prayed for evening courts. The lawyers will oppose this. After arguing for the whole day in the regular courts, we direct that there will be evening courts, lawyers after their day’s work will be arguing in the evening Courts?…We cannot lay down one-size-fits-all solutions. The country is too large and complex to lay down such directions,” the CJI said.

The bench was hearing a PIL filed by a Kishan Chand Jain who said virtual hearings in trial courts can happen in a phased manner.

These are policy matters and the nation is too complex for the court to issue these kinds of directions, the apex court said.

The bench then referred to the progress made under the phase three of E-courts project.

“Rest assured that individual aspects like virtual courts are being looked into. We have a budget sanctioned by the government of Rs 7000 crores,” the bench said.

Virtual hearings are a critical part of the ongoing E-courts project which is intended to introduce new technology in the judiciary.