A lawyer appeared in a virtual hearing while in bed in a T-shirt on June 15th. His actions left the Supreme Court judges unimpressed and issued an order stating that lawyers should maintain 'minimum court etiquette' owing to the public nature of hearings.
The lockdown has been difficult in determining what is 'work' and what is 'casual' as 'Work From Home' has become a new norm. However, there are rules and regulations that need to be followed, the lines aren't yet all the blurred.
Lawyer takes Work From Home memo little too seriously
Since the lockdown began a lot of professions have moved from an offline to online mode. Even the law has had to adhere to the needs of the difficult times ushered in by COVID-19. Therefore virtual hearings have become the norm. However, the court's sanctity still remains intact.
On 15th June a lawyer appeared in a virtual court hearing lying on a bed and in a t-shirt. His attitude toward workplace etiquette was frowned upon by a Supreme Court judge present at the hearing. This was not welcomed by the judges who asserted that lawyers should appear 'presentable' during the hearings due to their public nature.
The apology of the lawyer in question was accepted by Justice S Ravindra Bhat, who called it, "inappropriate on his part to make a court appearance, whilst lying on bed dressed in a T-shirt." The hearing was with regard to a case being transferred from the family court in Haryana's Rewari to a court in Bihar's Jeehanabad.
The court also issued an order on June 15th addressing the matter, "This court is of the view that when counsel appear in court video hearings, they should be presentable and avoid showing images, which are not appropriate and can only be tolerable in the privacy of their homes."
Recently, there was another case of a lawyer appearing to a bail hearing in his vest which was frowned upon by the Rajasthan High Court. Perhaps the transition from offline to online isn't as smooth as one thought it to be.
