proceedings in the Jammu and Kashmir High Court / walked a few steps from bedroom, switched on the phone and went straight to the virtual court room; Just need to wear uniform

Srinagar. Date – March 30, sixth day of lockdown: Amicus Curiae (Advisor of Court in a particular case) appointed to assist Jammu and Kashmir High Court in Coronavirus related cases, Senior Advocate Monica Kohli doing her duty like Rose Huh. The only difference is that today he is not in a hurry, nor is he worried about getting stuck in traffic like daily. He needs to walk only a few steps from his bedroom to reach the court room. Within a minute, she finds herself in a virtual court room with five other lawyers. These five lawyers are also taking part in the court proceedings through video conferencing from their respective homes.

At 10 am, Chief Justice Geeta Mittal and Justice Sindhu Sharma appear on the screen. This is the first time that a division bench of 2 women judges is hearing through video conferencing. Both judges are hearing public interest issues from their homes in Jammu amidst lockdowns across the country to prevent the spread of coronavirus. These five lawyers, including the judge, are present in the proceedings from their respective homes, but according to the rules, they are all in their uniforms.

There have been many lockdowns in the state, but the
lockdown is not new in Jammu and Kashmir doing work from home for the first time  . The lockdown has been taking place in the Valley since the 90s after rising militancy, but this is the first time a lockdown has been affected by the High Court in the state. The entire High Court is doing work from home. However, before that, on several occasions (cases related to terrorists), there have been hearings in the High Court through video conferencing. But then the judge and the lawyer were present in the High Court.

“The way to hear the court is the same, as soon as the judges come on the screen, the lawyers stand at home and greet them”
Monica Kohli, for the first time, was participating in court proceedings through video conferencing. Sharing this experience, he said, it was a wonderful experience for me. Being a part of a civilized society, it was really interesting to fulfill our obligations while maintaining social distancing. She explains, “The court proceedings went on as they went.” As always, as soon as we found the two judges of the division bench in front of our screen, first we stood and greeted them. The proceedings started and I put before the Chief Justice the concerns and concerns of the passengers stranded in Jammu due to the 21-day lockdown in the country. The Chief Justice gave necessary guidelines to the officers of the government to provide the facilities of these people. One by one,

“Strict observance of social distancing had begun in the court premises even before the lockdown”
, says Monica Kohli, “Chief Justice Geeta Mittal had already initiated necessary measures to curb the spread of coronavirus in Jammu and Kashmir. . Even before the announcement of Janata curfew on March 22, he had banned the mob of lawyers in the court premises. Every day circulars were issued in the court premises under strict instructions to maintain social distancing. Screening of people arriving at the court was also done. ”

Kohli said, “When some students from the Kashmir Valley trapped in Iran first approached the Chief Justice via email, they took these emails as a PIL and asked the administration to take necessary steps. He also issued notices to the Union Territory Government and the Ministry of External Affairs from time to time to prevent coronoviruses from spreading in the state.

“All urgent cases are being heard on video calls”
Monika Kohli says, “The Chief Justice has given priority to the most important cases by creating social distancing. He emphasized on action through video conferencing to reduce the movement of people in the court premises. ” Monica Kohli also praises the Chief Justice for modifying and upgrading the system in the judiciary. She says that Chief Justice is also hearing in many other important cases through video conferencing. In one case, the Chief General Manager of BSNL was asked to participate in the court proceedings through video conferencing. The Chief Justice directed them to give lease line connections to 24 locations of Juvenile Justice Boards and Observation Homes at the earliest.

On April 3 hearing on the matter related to providing necessary facilities to the migrant laborers in lockdown,
Monica says, ” Hearing   all the urgent matters, the Division Bench had also issued a directive to all the concerned agencies that wherever suspicious cases are coming up and People are being quarantined, full care should be taken of the safety of the employees working in all such places. The Division Bench has also directed the officials to look after the needs of migrant laborers, their living arrangements and their health. It has also said that if work is not being done in this direction, then this issue should be brought to the notice in the next hearing. This hearing will be held on April 3 in cases related to coronaviruses.