Computer personnel in high risk zone, Allahabad High Court refuses virtual hearing

Allahabad (ILNS): Risk of Covid infection from personnel from the computer division of the court resulted in the Allahabad High Court order to stop video conferencing. The court has said that the computer section was a high risk zone and it would not be safe if any personnel from that department had to physically monitor the video conference.

The court yesterday denied a request for a hearing via video conferencing, stressing that there was no additional infrastructure in the Chamber (of the judge) to enable a virtual hearing.

The bench of Justice Vivek Agarwal told ASGI Sanjay Kumar Om, on his request to conduct hearing via VC that virtual hearing cannot be allowed because the computer section of the High Court is the “high risk zone” for Covid 19 and hence no person from there can be allowed within the court premises for the sake of safety of others.

The Court said: “There is a request made from A.S.G.I. for taking the case through video conferencing. This request cannot be entertained in view of the fact that staff of the High Court (are) already in high risk of Corona infection and this is more prevalent in the Computer Section. No infrastructure is available to carry out Video conferencing in the Chamber”.

The Court has set tomorrow i.e. September 30, for the physical hearing of the case instead.

“Equipment cannot be allowed to be fixed by a person in the high risk zone exposing the judge and the staff of the Court to such infection. Therefore, I am of the view that request for taking the case through Video Conferencing cannot be entertained for the present,” the court said.

-ILNS
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