Coronavirus: Delhi HC suspends hearings till April 15 amid lockdown

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

The 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.

The Delhi High Court Wednesday extended till May 15 all the interim orders, which were to expire on or after March 16, in cases before it as also the district courts as litigants would not be able to appear in such matters due to the restrictions imposed in the wake of coronavirus outbreak.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday adjourned the hearing on matters listed for March 25 in the wake of a 21-day nationwide lockdown announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The cause list for Wednesday, uploaded on the apex court's website, earlier showed two benches of justices D Y Chandrachud and Surya Kant and justices L Nageswara Rao and Aniruddha Bose taking up 15 matters for hearing through videoconferencing.