Facing technical glitches, Supreme Court hears arguments of lady petitioner on cell phone

Facing technical problems, a Supreme Court bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud on Wednesday heard arguments of a petitioner using a cell phone on speaker mode. A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and Hima Kohli was hearing a plea filed by a petitioner who was addressing the court virtually, claiming denial of an MBBS seat for academic year 2018-2019 in the OBC category under the Wards of Insured Persons quota.

Children of Employees State Insurance holders can apply for 437 MBBS seats at the national level if they are otherwise eligible. Since the voice of the lady was not clear, the bench dialled her number and heard the argument. It ordered, "By its very nature, since the year in question has elapsed, it would not be possible to entertain the plea at this stage".

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The bench recorded in its order, "The petitioner, who appeared in-person, has interacted with the Court through an audio call. We have heard her at length and find from what the petitioner stated that the student (who is the daughter of the petitioner) has not appeared for the NEET examination during the current academic year or the previous year".

It said the student will be at liberty to appear for the next NEET examination subject to fulfilling the eligibility conditions and, thereafter, if the grievance subsists, to move either the high court or the apex court for appropriate relief if she is denied admission contrary to law. The bench then disposed of the plea.

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Since the onset of the Covid pandemic, the top court has been working in both physical and virtual mode, enabling lawyers and litigants to appear before it from anywhere. On September 27, taking a giant leap towards transparency and accessibility, the top court had for the first time live streamed proceedings of three constitution benches simultaneously through webcast and video streaming on "YouTube" which was watched by more than eight lakh viewers.