This story is from May 23, 2020

Lawyers demand ‘normal’ operation of Patna HC

Lawyers demand ‘normal’ operation of Patna HC
Patna high court
PATNA: A group of Patna high court lawyers on Friday demanded that the court resume normal functioning with proper safeguards.
The group led by lawyer Basant Kumar Chaudhary placed their written demand before registrar general to be put up before Chief Justice Sanjay Karol. Chaudhary said the registrar general was authorised by the Chief Justice to talk the group after which they submitted their demands.
Chaudhary said normal functioning of high court be restored with precaution and conditions that only those lawyers be allowed to come to premises who had cases listed on particular day.

“There are at least seven big court rooms inside high court where 10-15 lawyers could be allowed at one time for hearing,” Chaudhary said, adding, only those lawyers be allowed to enter the premises who have cases listed.
“The e-filing system and hearing via videoconferencing is not completely efficient. Most lawyers don’t have wifi. It’s not that we are against the new system but we want that normal functioning of the high court be restored as lawyers and litigants are facing problems,” he said, adding, Covid-19 cases are much less in Bihar than several other states.
Another lawyer Dinu Kumar also demanded that regular hearings be held by restricting the number of lawyers inside the courtrooms in the interests of litigants and lawyers who are suffering financially due to the lockdown.

The high court has already deferred its annual vacation from May 24 to June 21 to make-up for the loss of work since March 16. However, it has started hearing cases through the e-filing process with all judges again sitting according to roaster after an initiative by Chief Justice Sanjay Karol and other senior judges.
The high court’s Advocates’ Association president Yogesh Chandra Verma said, “Patna high court is functioning much better than other high courts in country. On Wednesday last week, Patna high court created a sort of history by taking up around 400 cases. But count dipped afterwards.”
‘File report on condition of leprosy patients’: The Patna high court on Friday asked the Centre to submit a reply on the action it has taken to protect leprosy patients after repealing Lepers Act, 1898.
A division bench of Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh and Justice Anil Kumar Sinha, while hearing a PIL field by Sam Utthan, a registered society, also asked Bihar State Legal Services Authority to file a comprehensive report on condition of all the colonies of leprosy patients in Bihar and fixed May 29 as next date of hearing. While additional solicitor general S D Sanjay appeared for the Centre, counsels Gautam Kejriwal and Mrityunjay Kumar represented the society and the state government, respectively.
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