"Should've Happened Earlier": Chief Justice On Deaf Lawyer Arguing In Court

The experience of watching a deaf lawyer arguing in the Supreme Court on Monday stayed with Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, who has remarked he realised only later that it was the first time that had happened, and said it shouldn't have taken so long.

During an event organised by the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association on Tuesday, the Chief Justice referred to lawyer Sara Sunny arguing in a case related to persons with disabilities. He was all praise for her and her interpreter Saurabh Roy Choudhary and remarked on how Mr Choudhary gave her all the information on the hearings in the 36 cases that preceded hers, and even conveyed a sense of the mood of the court. 

"I realised later that this was the first case of its kind in the Supreme Court, and how long it took us to reach here and make this happen. It should have happened earlier," the Chief Justice said.

The control room that manages virtual proceedings had initially declined to let Ms Sunny appear before the court. Mr Choudhary was on the screen when the turn for their hearing came. Appearing before Chief Justice Chandrachud, he waited for Ms Sunny to tell him, in sign language, what she wanted to argue before the court and then made the arguments for her. 

The Chief Justice then instructed the control room and the interpreter to give screen space to Ms Sunny. Her appearance was arranged by advocate-on-record Sanchita Ain.

Chief Justice Chandrachud has been working towards ensuring equal access to justice. Last year, he had also ordered a detailed accessibility audit of the Supreme Court complex to understand the challenges faced by differently abled people and make it more accessible to them. 

On Sunday, the Supreme Court had also, for the first time, used sign language interpreters at a two-day national stakeholders' consultation on child protection. The invitation for the event also had a Braille version.