Today, the Supreme Court of India appointed a sign language interpreter for deaf lawyer Sarah Sunny. After noting the presence of the deaf lawyer, earlier today, a three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud, Justice Manoj Misra, and Justice JB Pardiwala suggested contemplating the idea of having an interpreter. This is the first time in history that the Supreme Court appointed an interpreter at its own expense. CJI said, “We have an interpreter today for Sarah.” He added “I was telling the secretary-general that now for Constitution benches, let us have an interpreter so that the hearings are understood by all. This is the first time a court-appointed interpreter appears here.” The interpreter along with Advocate Sarah Sunny was seen in the virtual hearing window.
The idea was appreciated by Senior Advocate Menaka Guruswamy, “This is truly historic and momentous. It shows the diversity in a true sense in this court.” Further, CJI asked the Advocate,
“Sarah, wanted to ask you that since we have started the process now… Hope this was understandable…Our goal is to accommodate everyone in this Court. You must now start arguing your own matters before us now.” After hearing this, the court-appointed interpreter on behalf of Advocate Sunny said “Yes sir, it was very helpful.”
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