Delhi HC to hear only urgent matters till March 20

In the wake of coronavirus outbreak, the Delhi High Court on Monday issued various directions including hearing of only urgent matters till March 20.

In a meeting of administrative and general supervision committee held today, the Delhi High Court directed restriction of the functioning of the court till March 20 and the bench will only take urgent matters, all pending matters listed from March 17-20 stand adjourned.

The HC said that the urgent matters, to be listed on the following day, shall be determined by the joint registrars.

The High Court also directed that no under-trial prisoner would be produced before the subordinate courts till March 31 and if the production of any such person is indispensable, the facility of video conferencing will be utilized.

The Delhi High Court also directed that for the purposes of extension of remand in remaining matters, the District and Sessions Judge would depute a sufficient number of Metropolitan Magistrates in all the jails situated in Delhi or use the facility of video conferencing for the same.

The Delhi High Court also directed subordinate courts to take up only bail matters and matters requiring urgent stay or injunction, till March 31 and the rest of the matters would be adjourned.

The High Court also said that the Delhi Judicial Academy would suspend all its institutional training programs till March 31. However, for Delhi Judicial Services (DJS) officers undergoing induction training, the court attachments would continue.

The filing counter in the High Court will remain open and the limitation period shall continue to run as before.

The Committee said that it will review the situation on March 20.

The High Court said that it will soon issue more directions in the matter when BJP leader and advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay mentioned before the court that the photocopy shops in the court premises and the cash counters of court fees in the Delhi High Court should accept digital payments as a matter of precaution to prevent spreading of coronavirus.

The bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice C Harishankar, after hearing the mentioning, said, "Don't worry! We will be issuing more directions."

The High Court had, on Friday, held an urgent meeting and decided to restrict its functioning to urgent matters to prevent and control the outbreak of novel coronavirus, which has been declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organisation.