New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday witnessed an unusual sight. A sign-language interpreter was seen interpreting the proceedings of the apex court for a lawyer in a virtual window.
In a historic first, the Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud on Friday announced the appointment of a sign-language interpreter for hearing-impaired Malayali lawyer Sarah Sunny.
"We have an interpreter today for Sarah. In fact, we are thinking that for the constitution bench hearings we will have an interpreter so that everyone can follow," Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said.
"Sarah, I hope this was intelligible to you and you were able to understand what was going on in the court," the CJI said during the proceedings.
"Yes sir, she says it was very helpful," the interpreter replied.
Sarah had earlier filed an application before the Supreme Court registry requesting a court-appointed Indian Sign Language (ISL) interpreter to assist her. The application was filed by Advocate-on-Record Sanchita Ain, who is Sarah's senior in the profession. Notably, Ain had previously arranged for the presence of an interpreter, Saurav Roychowdhury, to translate legal proceedings before the CJI's bench for Sunny.
Bengaluru-based lawyer from Kerala
Sarah Sunny is the first hearing-impaired advocate in India. She is the daughter of Sunny, a chartered accountant from Kottayam, and Betty. Sarah and her twin sister Maria attended the Clooney Convent School until the 10th grade and did their Plus Two at the St Claret School, both the institutions being in Bengaluru. The twins studied together until they passed B Com from Jyotinivas College in the same city.
Sarah received her Bachelor's degree in law from St. Joseph's College in Bengaluru, and was part of the first batch that graduated from the institution. She is now a practising lawyer and an active member of Human Rights Law Network.
Sarah's senior Advocate Sanchita Ain expressed gratitude to the CJI for arranging the interpreter.
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, LiveLaw inputs.)
