Coronavirus Outbreak: Supreme Court Proposes Shutting Down, Only Urgent Hearings To Take Place
The Supreme Court on Monday announced that there will be no more hearing in person till further orders and that they will hear urgent matters through virtual means A bench of judges headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi ordered the sealing of the lawyers chambers in the premises by Tuesday evening. Only the Supreme Court Bar Association president will have the authority to allow lawyers to enter court premises for urgent reasons.
The Supreme Court on Monday announced that there will be no more hearing ¡°in person¡± till further orders and that they will hear urgent matters through ¡°virtual means¡±
Reuters
A bench of judges headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi ordered the sealing of the lawyers¡¯ chambers in the premises by Tuesday evening, and said that only the Supreme Court Bar Association president will have the authority to allow lawyers to enter court premises for urgent reasons.
¡°The court is going to conduct video conferencing to hear urgent matters,¡± said the bench observed.
The bench further added, ¡°Will cancel all proximity cards to dissuade lawyers from coming to apex court,¡±
TOI
CJI Bobde added that the bench will take a call by itself today on possible shutdown or preponing summer vacation as demanded by lawyers.
The top court authorities on Sunday had decided to restrict its functioning. In a notice issued late Sunday evening, the top court had cancelled scheduled hearings in courts 2, 8 and 14, saying that from Wednesday only one bench of two judges will take up hearing only for urgent matters through video conference.
CJI Bobde last week had said that the facility of video conferencing will get set up to hear the urgent matters within a week and smart TVs will be installed as well for the media to cover the cases this helps in limiting them from entering the court rooms.
The lawyers¡¯ body Supreme Court Advocate on Record Association said that amid coronavirus outbreak and in view of the Delhi government notification March 22 by which there has been a total lock down in Delhi till March 31, it is resolved that the members will not appear for the Court till April 4.
"The borders have been shut down and members commuting from Gurugram, Ghaziabad and Noida will not be able to reach the Court. Further public transports like Delhi Metro have also been shut down in the best interests of the citizens," the resolution of SCAORA said.
