‘SC allowing specially-abled advocate to argue case through interpreter a welcome step’

On September 22, a bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud heard hearing impaired lawyer Sarah Sunny through sign language interpreter Saurav Roy Chowdhury in a case related to rights of Persons with Disability

New Delhi: Lawyers and bar bodies have termed as a welcome step the Supreme Court allowing a hearing impaired lawyer to argue a case through a sign-language interpreter last week.

On September 22, a bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud heard hearing impaired lawyer Sarah Sunny through sign language interpreter Saurav Roy Chowdhury in a case related to rights of Persons with Disability (PwD).

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The speed of hand and finger movement with which interpreter Saurav conveyed Sarah the proceedings of the court was praised by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta. The CJI agreed with the views of Mehta.

Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president senior advocate Adish C Aggarwala said, “This is a very good step and the bar association welcomes the move of the top court. This will boost the morale of specially-abled lawyers and litigants, who will now be encouraged to argue before the court.” Aggarwala said that the judiciary needs to be equipped to deal with these situations and proper infrastructure and specialised interpreters are needed.

“Even judges need to have at least basic knowledge of the sign language, so that the sign interpreters intentionally or unintentionally does not mislead or misguide the court. Judges don’t need to be experts but at least they need to have a basic knowledge,” he said.

Senior advocate Vikas Singh also welcomed the move by CJI Chandrachud to allow a hearing impaired lawyer to argue his case in sign language.

“It is a great initiative. Ultimately, in the temple of justice, if any citizen is not getting access due to any of his limitations and sign language is used by him to convey his points to the court, it is good,” Singh, a former president of the SCBA, said.

He said it is important that every citizen of the country, irrespective of his or her limitations, gets access to the courts to put forth their points before it.

“I welcome this move by the Chief Justice of India,” Singh said.

On Saturday, the top court for the first time used sign language interpreters for its two-day national stakeholders consultation on child protection programme.

Also, the invitation for the event and programme details were issued in Braille for the first time for the assistance of the visually impaired.

The annual event, organised by the Supreme Court Committee on Juvenile Justice and Child Welfare, concluded on Sunday.

CJI Chandrachud, who is sensitive towards providing accessibility to justice delivery system to the differently-abled, constituted a Supreme Court committee on accessibility last year with the aim of ensuring accessibility and understanding the hardships faced by specially-abled persons.

Several infrastructural changes have been carried out in the top court premises to enhance accessibility for the specially-abled persons.