SUPREME COURT TO ONLY HEAR URGENT CASES

To curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, the Supreme Court decided on Friday it will only hear urgent matters from March 16, and restrict the entry of lawyers and litigants.

NEW DELHI : In a bid to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19), the Supreme Court decided on Friday that it will only hear urgent matters from March 16, and restrict the entry of lawyers and litigants into its courtrooms.

A notification, issued by Supreme Court secretary general Sanjeev S Kalgaonkar, said that only lawyers appearing in a case or assisting the arguing counsel, along with one litigant, will be allowed inside the courtrooms. “..the Competent Authority has been pleased to direct that the functioning of the Courts from Monday 16 March 2020, shall be restricted to urgent matters with such number of Benches as may be found appropriate. It is hereby notified that no persons except the lawyers who are going to act in the matter, i.e. either for argument or for making oral submissions or to assist along with one litigant only, shall be permitted in the court room,” it read.

The decision was taken after considering an advisory issued by the central government on March 5, which cautioned against mass gatherings, and the opinion of public health experts.

The top court also suspended the practice of lawyers mentioning cases before Chief Justice of India SA Bobde for early listing. Such requests would now have to be made before the designated mentioning officer. The court, which is currently shut for the Holi break, is scheduled to reopen on March 16. A second circular was issued by the secretary general as per which only six benches will sit on Monday to hear cases.

The Delhi high court also decided that its functioning from March 16 shall be restricted to hearing of urgent matters.

LAWYERS APPEARING IN A CASE OR ASSISTING THE ARGUING COUNSEL, ALONG WITH 1 LITIGANT, WILL BE ALLOWED IN THE COURTROOMS