Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud on Friday announced the appointment of a sign-language interpreter by the Supreme Court to help hearing-impaired lawyers and litigants to comprehend judicial proceedings.
"Today, we have an interpreter whom the Supreme Court has appointed," the CJI said at the outset of the proceedings.
Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud on Friday announced the appointment of a sign-language interpreter by the Supreme Court to help hearing-impaired lawyers and litigants to comprehend judicial proceedings.
"Today, we have an interpreter whom the Supreme Court has appointed," the CJI said at the outset of the proceedings.
"This is a historic moment," a lawyer said.
The CJI said he wanted to have a sign-language interpreter for the Constitution bench hearings.
On September 22, a bench headed by the CJI heard hearing-impaired lawyer Sarah Sunny through sign-language interpreter Saurav Roy Chowdhury in a case related to the rights of persons with disability (PwD).
Lawyers and bar bodies had lauded the fact that the Supreme Court allowed a hearing-impaired lawyer to argue a case through a sign-language interpreter.
CJI Chandrachud, who is sensitive towards providing accessibility to justice delivery systems to the differently-abled, also constituted a Supreme Court committee on accessibility last year with the aim of ensuring accessibility and understanding the hardships faced by specially-abled persons.
Several infrastructural changes have been carried out on the top court premises to enhance accessibility for the specially-abled persons.
-With PTI Input