NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), with 13,000 advocate members, on Monday locked horns with the Supreme Court over the latter’s decision to begin hybrid hearing, a mix of physical and virtual proceedings, from March 15 and moved a petition seeking quashing of the standard operating procedures (SOPs) “unilaterally” issued by the court registry.
The writ petition, under Article 32 of the Constitution claiming violation of the SCBA’s and its members’ fundamental right to carry out their profession, was filed by the association and its treasurer Meenesh Dubey demanding that the SOPs were unacceptable as it restricted physical hearing to three days a week, when the court takes up old matters.
The SCBA said in the last couple of years, the court registry had developed a habit of issuing circulars without consulting the bar association, which it said was an equal partner with the court in justice delivery, and termed as unacceptable the registry’s decision to continue with virtual mode of hearing on Mondays and Fridays, when the court takes up fresh matters.