New Delhi, Dec. 1 -- The Supreme Court today directed Maharashtra authorities to ensure that virtual conferencing facilities operate smoothly during hearings in the 2016 Gadchiroli arson case, after senior counsel for activist-lawyer Surendra Gadling complained that the VC system routinely collapses whenever he is produced before the trial court.
A Bench, comprising Justices J.K. Maheshwari and Vijay Bishnoi, was hearing Gadling's bail plea, nearly six years and ten months into his custody, during which, he said, he had been unfairly "branded" solely because he had represented accused persons in Naxalite-related cases.
The Court re-listed the bail matter for January, granting time to file a reply to an application still pending before the...