Ready to revert to fully physical mode of hearing from April 4, says Chief Justice of India

Presently, weekdays are divided among physical, virtual and hybrid hearings

Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana announced in open court on Wednesday that the Supreme Court is ready to revert to fully physical mode of hearing from April 4.

The announcement heralds the return of the Supreme Court to the vibrant pre–pandemic days of bustling court corridors.

Presently, the weekdays are divided among physical, virtual and hybrid hearings in the court.

Cases are heard via video conference exclusively on Mondays and Fridays. The rest of the weekdays have physical hearings.

The past two years had seen the court alternate between fully virtual hearings during the peak months of the pandemic and hybrid hearings whenever the infection subsided.

After the Omicron attack, the court had opened up partially in February, reverting to the current arrangment of three days of physical hearings a week.

The standard operating procedure dividing the working between physical and virtual court hearings was first notified by the court in October 7, 2021 after the second wave of virus attack.