India's top court asks lawyers to argue online as air quality worsens

India's Supreme Court has asked lawyers to stay away and argue cases on a virtual platform instead, media said, in the latest disruption to life in the capital caused by deteriorating air quality.

New Delhi's air quality index has hovered above 400 this week, ranking in the "severe" category, prompting authorities to step up curbs on construction and industrial activity.

Describing the situation as "very, very serious", the Supreme Court asked lawyers on Thursday to consider using its virtual hearing facility.

"This (air pollution) will cause permanent damage ... Even masks are not enough," said Justice P S Narasimha, according to India Today, among other media.

The Supreme Court did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The air quality index stood at 437 at the monitoring station closest to the Supreme Court on Thursday, according to India's Central Pollution Control Board, which rates readings between zero and 50 in the "good" category.

There are 34 judges of the Supreme Court, one of more than a dozen courts and tribunals that dot the capital, a hub for litigation where hundreds of lawyers argue cases.

In the past authorities have blamed much of the smog shrouding the city every winter on smoke from farmers illegally burning crop stubble to clear their fields in the neighbouring breadbasket states of Punjab and Haryana.

Experts say numerous Supreme Court directives on air quality over the last decade have not been properly adopted.

Livelihoods are disrupted every year in parts of South Asia by the smog, whose impact can cut life expectancy by more than five years per person, a study showed in 2023.

Residents of the city turned out on the weekend for a rare protest demanding action to dispel the toxic air.