Functioning of Delhi HC, district courts suspended to prevent coronavirus spread

NEW DELHI: In a bid to combat the outbreak of novel coronavirus and considering the prevalent situation, Delhi high court on Monday decided to suspend it's functioning and that of all district courts in the national capital till April 4.

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The court said that if any fresh matter of extreme urgency comes up, the registrar or joint registrar should be contacted telephonically and added that the hearing of such matters will be conducted through video conferencing.

"The respective district and sessions judges shall prepare a roster of judicial officers for dealing with remand related to fresh arrests. For fresh matters of extreme urgency, one administrative officer (Judicial) be nominated in each district who can be contacted telephonically by the Advocate/party," Delhi high court said in an order.

It said that necessary directions will be issued and uploaded on the website by the concerned district and sessions judges.

"The matters which are already fixed up to April 4 be adjourned en-bloc to subsequent dates and the information in this regard be uploaded to the website of the district and entered into CIS so that auto-generated messages are received by all concerned," the order said.

This comes after the Bar Council of Delhi, on Monday, suggested a total shut down of the Delhi high court and district courts amid the ongoing coronavirus fear.

This comes after at least 415 confirmed cases of coronavirus have been reported across the country. According to official data, there are 30 COVID-19 cases reported from Delhi, including one person who died of the disease.