Coronavirus pandemic: HC suspends its functioning till Apr 15

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday suspended its functioning till April 15 in view of coronavirus pandemic.

Matters of extreme urgency will have to be mentioned before the registrar or joint registrar telephonically and hearing will take place through video conferencing.

A circular issued by Registrar Manoj Jain said the high court has taken note of the order by the central government by which a nationwide lockdown has been declared for a period of 21 days with effect from Wednesday, that is, March 25.

"Chief Justice D N Patel has been pleased to order that the functioning of the High Court of Delhi shall now remain suspended till April 15, 2020," the circular said.

It said all the pending matters listed before the high court, including the courts registrars and joint registrars, on April 13 to April 15 would be adjourned on July 13 to July 15 respectively.

The high court also suspended the functioning of trial courts here till April 15.

On March 23, the high court had suspended its functioning as well as of trial courts here till April 4.

The high court had earlier said that the limitation period for any court proceeding would not be considered from March 23 till April 4, 2020 subject to further orders. Period of limitation means the time period under which a suit, appeal or application has to be file.

The earlier decision, taken by an eight-judge committee headed by Chief Justice D N Patel, was communicated in a notification issued by the high court's registrar general.

Regarding the functioning of trial court, the high court had directed the district and sessions judges to prepare a roaster of judicial officers for dealing with remand proceedings related to fresh arrests.

The high court on March 13, 16 and 20 put certain restrictions on its functioning to contain the spread of coronavirus by limiting the number of benches and taking up only urgent matters.