HC Chief Justice encourages senior counsels to appear through virtual mode

With the weather forecast warning that mercury will touch over 43 degree Celsius in next week, Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court T S Sivagnanam encouraged senior counsels to appear through virtual mode.

During a conversation in Court on the weather, Chief Justice Sivagnanam remarked of a female advocate fainting on Thursday due to heat. “Tomorrow they are saying that it will cross 45 degree Celsius,” Chief Justice remarked, while adding: “Anybody can come through virtual mode. There is no restriction.”

Recently, the wearing of Advocates’ gowns was exempted by CJ. Through a notification, it was informed:

“Taking note of the weather, wearing of Advocates’ gown is exempted till the Court reopens after Summer Vacation on June 10, 2024.” Summer vacation at Calcutta High Court will commence from

May 19. According to an advocate, a similar exemption was allowed by Chief Justice during the peak summer weeks last year as well. The Regional Meteorological Centre in Alipore has issued a warning

of heat wave conditions prevailing in the districts of South Bengal from April 26 to April 30. In presence of Advocate General Kishore Dutta, CJ Sivagnanam informed that a meeting was conducted with a professor from IIT Kharagpur who had conducted an inspection of the stability of the structure. “Suppose our sanction strength increases to 100 in the next six to seven years. There will be a need to increase provisions for judges and the corresponding increase of bar members,” he remarked.

According to a news report, in 2022 B Block of the New Secretariat building was handed over to the judiciary in presence of former Calcutta High Court Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava.

Former Chief Justice Shrivastava said that there was a space crunch at the high court and that was why the state was requested to find a suitable place to accommodate some new courts and chambers of judges.