Within hours of blast, HC resumes proceedings

The Delhi High Court, along with several benches of the Supreme Court, suspended proceedings today after a powerful blast rocked its premises, but resumed its functioning within hours to send a strong message that it "will not be cowed down by such terror acts".

The explosion, which occurred three months after another low-intensity explosion a few hundred yards away from the present blast site, left the legal fraternity shocked and aghast as many lawyers were among the victims.

While some of the advocates urged Chief Justice S H Kapadia to temporarily adjourn the proceedings following the the blast at around 10.15 AM, former Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium urged a bench of justices Dalveer Bhandari and Deepak Verma to adjourn the day's proceedings.

Expressing "deep shock and anguish", Justice Bhandari, while adjourning the hearing, asked the advocates to render all possible assistance to the injured.

Proceedings before a bench of justices G S Singhvi and H L Dattu were also temporarily adjourned after senior counsel Ram Jethmalani, while arguing in a 2G case, mentioned the blast before the court.

The High Court, however, resumed the proceedings in the post-lunch session.

All the courts were working. In case of failure of any litigant or lawyer to appear in the case, the courts abstained from passing any adverse order against them.

A member of the Delhi Bar Council said the court has resumed proceedings "to send a strong message that it will not come under pressure or be cowed down by such acts of terror".

Meanwhile, all the high court judges and Chief Justice Dipak Misra visited the blast spot. Home Minister P Chidambaram too reached the site and is believed to have held a brief meeting with the Chief Justice about security concerns of the court.