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File photo of Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.
The observation by the Union Minister of Law and Justice, Ravi Shankar Prasad, occurred during an interaction with a team of law enforcement officers.
- IANS New Delhi
- Last update: May 10, 2020, 10:54 p.m. IST
Given the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic court proceedings via video conference, it may remain a norm for some time, the law minister said Sunday.
The observation by Union Law and Justice Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad occurred during an interaction with a team of law enforcement officers led by Attorney General K.K. Venugopal and Attorney General Tushar Mehta.
The meeting was also attended by all Additional Advocates General and Deputy Advocates General, the Secretary of the Department of Legal Affairs and the Secretary of the Department of Justice. It was the first virtual meeting of its kind organized during the blockade imposed to slow the spread of the coronavirus outbreak.
“It was considered that in view of the severity of the pandemic, court proceedings via video conferencing may remain a norm for some time,” said Prasad.
The Minister of Law emphasized taking this challenge as an opportunity to strengthen digital systems in the delivery of justice. “The Attorney General and many other law enforcement officials stressed that the electronic court system needs to be strengthened by addressing connectivity issues and training lawyers in the administration of electronic courts,” said a statement issued by the Law Ministry. and Justice.
Citing a series of PILs in various courts during the coronavirus pandemic, Prasad said that during these difficult times, excessively jealous PILs should be avoided. “Although one cannot prevent anyone from presenting cases, there must be an effective response to this type of intervention,” he added.
A similar concern has also been pointed out by the Supreme Court, where it noted that the concept of PIL has been forgotten.
Prasad emphasized that addressing such a severe pandemic throws up a complicated and delicate nature of the challenges, to which the government system has responded and that it would be appropriate to rely on this decision-making process from the Center and state governments.
The Minister of Law directed the Secretary of Justice, who is also a member of the Supreme Court’s e-Court Committee, to coordinate to present these challenges to the committee and in coordination with the National Center for Informatics and other agencies and to improve the system. .
“Up to 1,282 defenders have registered for the electronic filing of petitions during the lockout, of which 543 defenders have registered in the last week alone. The secretary of the Department of Legal Affairs explained the coordination system available in the Ministry of Law on the follow-up of cases related to COVID-19. It was a common consensus that there should be uniformity in our approach and that the orders of the Supreme Court should be transmitted immediately to several higher courts, “the statement added.
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