New Delhi, Nov. 27 -- Delhi-NCR's choking air overshadowed multiple proceedings in the Supreme Court on Wednesday, with Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and several senior lawyers repeatedly flagging the deteriorating air quality that has begun affecting basic functioning inside the courtroom. During the hearing of a plea seeking safeguards for poor and EWS-category students missing out on education due to online classes during pollution emergencies, the bench headed by CJI Kant and also comprising Justice Joymalya Bagchi remarked that the air in Delhi had become "really bad". Justice Kant shared that after his evening walk on Tuesday, he "had problems regaining health since morning", underscoring the human toll of the escalating pollution situation. The court was hearing an application involving the widening digital divide faced by students in government schools, particularly when classes are shifted online under emergency measures imposed as part of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP). The plea seeks implementation of PRAGYATA guidelines that were introduced during the Covid pandemic to ensure online education access based on the level of digital resources available to students. The PRAGYATA (Plan, Review, Arrange, Guide, Yak, Assign, Track, Appreciate) guidelines are a set of recommendations issued by the education ministry for digital and online education in India, launched to mitigate the impact of school closures. Even as advocates Pankaj Sinha and Shashank Singh highlighted that the number of school days shifted from physical to online mode due to pollution has been rising -- 24 days in 2022, 40 in 2023 and 55 last year, the bench noted administrative indifference to the issue. The Court pointed out that despite notice issued on September 16 to the Centre, Delhi government and its Directorate of Education, none had chosen to respond or appear. "It appears that the relief sought in this application requires assistance from the Directorate of Education. Unfortunately, the said department has not come forward to assist the court," observed the bench, summoning the Delhi education secretary to appear when the matter is next heard. However, as the hearing progressed, the impact of severe air pollution played out in real time. Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi abruptly sought permission to leave midway through arguments, citing "chest congestion", and requested that he be allowed to appear online. Supporting him, senior advocate Kapil Sibal said: "Things are really getting from bad to worse. Every year, the pollution is increasing. At least there should be some option for the elderly lawyers who may get sick." Dwivedi added that he felt discomfort after a morning walk and requested hybrid hearing access. The CJI responded empathetically, noting that judges were equally affected, especially given that "most of them are above 60 years." He recalled that a former Supreme Court judge associated with the e-Committee recently suffered a stroke linked to the weather conditions....