Madras HC allows convict to argue on his own through video conference

Chennai: The Madras High Court on Wednesday allowed a convict wanting to argue a case on his own to do it through video conference.

Chief Justice Sanjay V. Gangapurwala said that the prisoner need not be brought to the court in person.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjay V. Gangapurwala and Justice D. Bharatha Chakravarthy said this while hearing a writ petition filed by R. Subramanian.

R. Subramanian was the promoter of various financial institutions including the once-popular retail chain Subhiksha.

The counsel of the petitioner told the court that his client was convicted in an economic offence case in November 2023 and sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment.

The counsel informed the court that as many of his cases were pending before the High Court, he wanted to argue some of them on his own without engaging a lawyer.

The judges, however, said that a comprehensive order could not be passed by the court, permitting the convict to argue all his cases in person, without knowing the details of those cases.

The court directed the counsel to submit the list of cases the petitioner wanted to argue on his own by April 1.

The court said that necessary orders would be passed with respect to his request to let him argue the cases on his own.

The Chief Justice also told the court that the person could use video conferencing for arguing his case after the list of pending cases are brought before the court.