The Brief Bulletin StaffCJI Bobde acknowledges limited accessibility of virtual courts
The shutdown of the physical workings of the courts triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic has spurred a new kind of injustice in which, Chief Justice of India SA Bobde said on Thursday, people without access to technology essentially lost access to justice.
For a significant portion of litigants and lawyers who do not have access to computers, he said, courts basically do not operate in separate districts in India.
CJI Bobde, speaking at the Constitution Day celebrations arranged by Zoom by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), said The virus spurred inequality."The virus spurred an inequality. It made access to justice dependent on access to technology. Those who did not have access to technology did not have access to justice. It was very unfortunate to have visited districts in India to be told that for a large section which do not have access to technology, courts simply don't exist.”
