CJI permits WFH for advocates amid rising Covid cases

Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on Wednesday said that lawyers are free to appear in court virtually in view of the rising number of Covid cases.
CJI Chandrachud said that newspaper reports suggest that Covid cases are increasing and if any advocate wants to appear in court virtually they can and hybrid mode is also on.
The CJI said, “We have seen newspaper reports on rising Covid cases. Lawyers can use hybrid mode. If you choose to appear online, we will hear you.”
Keeping in view the low infection rate and the number of Covid cases in Delhi and across the country, the Supreme Court reverted back to the physical hearing mode of adjudication of cases from April 4, 2022.
The apex court has been successfully experimenting with the hybrid method – a combination of physical and virtual – hearings for quite some time now.
The Supreme Court has started live-streaming of constitution bench proceedings through the Supreme Court App and YouTube even after the resumption of physical hearings.
India recorded 4435 fresh Covid cases on Wednesday with the active caseload at 23,091.
India’s Covid cases have seen an upward trend over the past few days, with daily fresh infections ranging from 2,994 on April 1 to 3,824 on April 2 and 3,641 on April 3, with a slight decline on Tuesday.
With 2,069 recoveries in the last 24 hours, the total number of recoveries rose to 4,41,77,204 on Tuesday. The overall recovery rate was pegged at 98.76 per cent.
The daily and weekly positivity rates on Tuesday stood at 1.84 per cent and 2.49 per cent, respectively, while the total number of vaccines administered in the last 24 hours stood at 1,894.
Out of the total 92.20 crore tests conducted so far, 1,64,740 tests were done on Tuesday.
Under the nationwide vaccination drive, India has so far administered 220.65 crore vaccine doses (95.20 crore second dose and 22.86 crore preventive dose), of which 9,497 doses were administered on Tuesday.
Taking note of the rising Covid cases in India, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Monday said that the Omicron sub-variant, which is currently being tested in the country, has not increased hospitalizations and there is no need to worry Is.
However, the minister said that there is a need to be vigilant and take necessary steps to contain the spread of the virus.
According to the daily bulletin issued by the state health department, 521 new Covid cases were reported in the national capital on Tuesday with a positivity rate of 15.64 per cent.
An official said, “521 people have been found infected with Kovid-19 in Delhi in the last 24 hours. At present there are 1,710 active cases of Kovid-19 in the national capital.”
The bulletin released on Tuesday said that a total of 4,08,00,239 Covid tests have been done so far.
It further added that a total of 216 Covid patients have been cured of the virus in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of recoveries to 19,83,318.
On 2 April, Delhi recorded 429 new Covid cases and one death in a span of 24 hours.