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The Delhi High Court bench of Justice Pratibha M. Singh recently expressed displeasure over the infrastructure of online hearings at Central Government Industrial Tribunal (CGIT) and stated there prevails "a dismal state of affairs" with respect to the virtual hearing infrastructure at the tribunal.

Noting thus, the Court directed personal appearance of the Tribunal's Secretary and Secretary of Ministry of Labour and Employment on November 21.

By its order dated July 28, the Delhi High Court had issued a slew of directions to the tribunal to make the virtual hearing system more efficient until the resumption of physical hearings.

In the previous order the Court had mandated procurement of Cisco-Webex services by CGIT in order to enable it to conduct hearings throughout the working hours of the day, on a daily basis. Further, the order had mandated installation of high-speed internet Through any of the established players, for the conduct of hearings through video conferencing.

The government had sought time to file a status report on the above mandate. The filed status report shows that till date, the Cisco Webex licences and the high speed internet connection do not appear to have been obtained at all by CGIT.

Further, as per the status report, it is not clear if any funds have even been sanctioned for this purpose either. There is also no clarity on as to when the licence provider of the Cisco Webex was contacted. Justice Prathibha M. Singh termed this as “a dismal state of affairs.”

The Court noted that:
“The status report does not show any urgency to enable the CGIT’s functioning, with the required technical infrastructure. It has already been noted by this Court in previous orders that the CGIT is an important Tribunal which is required to function regularly, to cater to interest and concerns of workmen working with Government establishments.”

Cause Title: Abdul Majid And Ors V. Employees State Insurance Corporation And Ors