GUWAHATI: The Manipur high court has switched to hybrid mode of functioning from last Tuesday as continuous curfew and ban on internet services have jeopardized the justice delivery system in the state.
Advocates and litigants preferring virtual hearings remotely will have the video-conference facilities and e-filing services at E-Sewa Kendras and district commissioners offices where internet data services are available through a secured network.
An SoP for the hybrid mode of functioning has also been issued by the HCs registry which provides a comprehensive set of guidelines for upholding all protocols of the court while conducting video conference remotely.The SoP said advocates and litigants may download the cause list from the court website, the DCs office, or by calling the dedicated helpline number to inquire as to the status of the cause list, the service of which will also be available at the E-Sewa Kendra counters.The high court has notified dedicated helpline numbers for cause list (7005102389, 9856443823), to assist litigants and advocates in e-filing (9089812323) and video conferencing (8014829143) to help to address any query related to the e-filing process and video conferencing as well as technical support.Curfew was clamped and internet data services were banned in the state immediately after trouble started on May 3.
There have been intermittent hours of curfew relaxation for few days since then but the ban on internet services has been maintained.
High court functioning hit by unrestOn May 4, "normal functioning of High Court of Manipur, including hearing of cases" was suspended till May 8, according to a notification issued by the registrar general of the high court.With no improvement in the situation in the state and curfew continuing, the acting chief justice of the high court, MV Muralidaran, on May 8 again suspended normal functioning and hearing of cases for the next two days.
The functioning of the court was further suspended from May 10 to 12 after that the high court ordered that sitting hours will be fixed in accordance with the relaxation of curfew hours.On June 1, the high court's registrar (judicial), in a notification, stated that in view of "curfew" and barring of internet data services, including broadband from May 31 in the state, "thereby rendering functioning of physical and virtual court not feasible for the time being".