COVID-19 lockdown: Delhi HC cancels summer vacations of HC, subordinate courts

Delhi High Court on Thursday decided to cancel the summer vacations of the High Court and all its subordinate courts in order to make up for the loss of court working hours due to the coronavirus lockdown.

"The decision has been taken by the Full Court on April 9, 2020, to make up for the loss of court working hours and to ensure restoration of normalcy in the functioning of the courts at the earliest," Delhi High Court said in a press note.

It was decided in consultation with the Delhi High Court Bar Association (DHCBA) and Full Court of High Court Judges, in a meeting held today, in view of the severe hardship faced by the litigants due to COVID-19 pandemic.

The Executive Committee of the DHCBA also appealed to the members of the Bar and the legal fraternity to co-operate in this time of emergent national crisis.

"Since during the period of suspension of work, the hearing is limited to the matters of extremely urgent nature or urgent nature, there is the negligible fresh filing of cases, lesser disposal and corresponding escalation in arrears. resulting in extreme hardship of litigants," the Full Court resolution said.

"It has been unanimously resolved by the Full Court that to make up for the loss of court working hours and to ensure restoration of normalcy in the functioning of the courts at the earliest... this court and subordinate courts thereto shall continue functioning during the entire month of June," it added.

Earlier, Delhi High Court had restricted the function of Delhi High Court and its subordinate court to urgent matters only through video-conferencing to prevent the spread of coronavirus.