A committee of seven Supreme Court judges is learnt to have recommended holding physical hearings in at least two or three of its 15 benches in the apex court as early as next week with some additional safety measures. The apex court, since March 25, has been holding hearings through video conferencing due to a nationwide lockdown and even after the restrictions were relaxed, it has decided to continue with the practice.

In the last week of July, the 7- judge panel headed by senior most judge Justice N V Ramana had apprised the bar leaders of its decision to not open the apex court for physical hearings "for the time being" and had assured to meet them again after two weeks to reconsider the issue. Now, Shivaji M Jadhav, President of the Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association (SCAORA), said that the judges committe met Bar leaders on Tuesday and "is seriously considering to start at least 2-3 physical courts from the next week".
Jadhav said in the meantime, the apex court's registry would take necessary steps to prepare the courts for physical functioning.