No summer vacations in Punjab & Haryana HC, lower courts

CHANDIGARH:The Punjab and Haryana high court on Saturday announced the cancellation of summer vacations. Also, there will be no holidays in the trial courts in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh, it said.

This year, vacations were scheduled between June 1 and June 26 in the high court and June 1 and June 30 in subordinate courts. The decision has been taken in view of courts taking up only ‘urgent cases’ since March due to Covid-19.

The high court is functioning in a restricted manner since March 16 and the trial courts are also taking up urgent cases only. Pending cases are being adjourned and only those are being taken up, where an application is filed citing some urgency. A dozen odd benches in the high court are taking up ‘urgent matters’ through video conferencing.

Against daily listing of nearly 2,500-3,000 cases on any given day, the HC is hearing 200 odd cases these days. “… Court will function with the continuation of present arrangement of filing, listing and hearing of the cases through video conferencing,” an official said. Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association welcomed the decision. “The high court should do away with prior mentioning of cases before listing of fresh cases,” bar secretary, Rohit Sud said.

THE HIGH COURT IS FUNCTIONING IN A RESTRICTED MANNER SINCE MARCH 16