SC mulls on employing sign language-interpreters in all Constitution Bench proceedings

The Supreme Court on Friday said that it is deliberating to employ sign-language interpreters in all Constitution Bench hearings.

"I was telling the Secretary-General that now for Constitution benches, let us have an interpreter so that the hearings are understood by all," said CJI DY Chandrachud after a hearing-impaired lawyer joined the proceedings in the Chief Justice’s court with the assistance of an interpreter appointed by the Supreme Court.

The CJI encouraged the specially-abled lawyer and said that she should start arguing her own matters with the assistance of an interpreter.

In a first of its kind move, the Supreme Court on Thursday directed its Registry for appointment of a sign-language interpreter to assist a specially-abled lawyer in attending the court proceedings.

Advocate-on-Record Sanchita Ain had moved an application before the top court seeking a sign-language interpreter for her hearing-impaired colleague. It was requested that the sign-language interpreter may join the proceedings virtually whenever the matter is taken up for hearing to enable the deaf lawyer to attend the hybrid proceedings from Bengaluru.

On Friday, CJI Chandrachud also informed that he has asked the Registrar (Listing) to list all pending 7-judge and 9-judge Constitution Bench matters for directions on October 12.

"We will at least get the basic formalities of filing compilations, etc. in three weeks. Then, we are going to list all these 7-judge, 9-judge or 5-judge matters,” he said. CJI Chandrachud added that some of the 7-judge or 9-judge Constitution Bench matters are pending for two decades and they will not take more than a half of a day or a day at most.