The Gujarat High Court has made the display of the full name of the participants during Zoom Video Conferencing (VC) hearing mandatory. If the full proper name is not displayed, then such persons will be prohibited from entering the VC hearing session.
The High Court has been hearing matters through video conferencing hearing sessions since the beginning of lockdown. This is the first of its kind experience for a lot of people. It is also, for the Court’s smooth functioning. But the administration has been facing many challenges since the beginning. Since it is very difficult to identify people with various display names and allow them inside the virtual Courtroom. As there is always a scope for error in such situations.
Steps taken by the Court before Issuance of the Circular
Many warnings had been given by the Court before issuing this circular. The Court instructed the Advocates to make use of proper display names but all efforts in vain. The Advocates continued the use of improper or confusing display names while calling. This became the cause for a lot of hardships for the Courts as well as the Advocates. Therefore the need to pass an official order arose.
The Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court, Mr. Vikram Nath, directed the Registrar General to pass this order. The circular for said order was issued on 15 May 2020.
Issue
Many Advocates did not have their proper name on display while joining the video conferencing sessions held before the High Court. Often, the name displayed was a random username, first name without the surname, ‘Admin’ or some abstract display name. This made it difficult to identify those who actually intend to join the video conferencing hearing sessions.
Order of the Court
The Chief Justice directed the Registrar General to not let anyone join the video conferencing hearing session without a proper display name. Lack of disclosure would lead to the Advocates not been allowed to enter the virtual courtroom.
This order of the High Court now makes it mandatory for all the Advocates to use their real full names before joining the hearing. Thus, it will become easier for the administration to identify and allow people into virtual Courtrooms.
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