New Delhi, March 23: In the backdrop of the outbreak of coronavirus and to ensure social distancing, the Supreme Court on Monday began the hearing of important matters through video conferencing for the first time ever. Since the last week, the apex court administration had been testing video conferencing, where lawyers can argue before a bench from a separate room. The top Court  formally began tackling its work through video-conferencing to further limit the spread of COVID-19 in the court.

In a circular issued late Sunday evening, the top court cancelled the scheduled hearing in courts 2, 8 and 14 and said that from Wednesday only one bench of two judges will take up for hearing in only urgent matters through video conference. While hearing the matters via video conferencing, the judges and  lawyers  appearing before them will be in separate rooms. Coronavirus Scare: CJI SA Bobde, 3 Other Judges Visit Supreme Court Corridors to Take Stock of Situation Inside Premises.

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Reports inform that as per the cause list uploaded by the apex court on its website, a bench of Chief Justice SA Bobde and Justice DY Chandrachud will be taking up three matters through video conference. During the hearing, the advocates have been requested to address the court from a different room, while the judges will be sitting in court one. Coronavirus Scare: Supreme Court to Hear Only Urgent Cases to Prevent Spread of COVID-19.

In the last week, the CJI had said that video conferencing facility will be set up to hear the matters within a week and smart TVs will be installed for the media to cover the cases to dissuade them from entering the court rooms. According to reports, a full court meeting has also been called by the CJI to discuss further course of action and measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. On March 21, in the backdrop of coronavirus outbreak, the SCBA had urged the Chief Justice S.A. Bobde to consider declaring four weeks' vacation beginning March 23.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 23, 2020 02:18 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).