COVID-19 EFFECT ‘Savelivesfirst,matterscanbedecidedinduecourse’
A bench of Justice Vinay Deshpande termed insensitive the orders of a civil court, which adjourned a suit before it only for one day despite the fact that the advocate of one of the parties was infected and was in quarantine
In this pandemic, saving lives is of utmost importance and matters can be decided in due course, observed the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court recently. The observation was made while quashing a civil court's order that refused to adjourn a suit, neglecting the fact that the advocate of one of the parties was infected with COVID-19.
A bench of Justice Vinay Deshpande termed insensitive the orders of a civil court, which adjourned a suit before it only for one day despite the fact that the advocate of one of the parties was infected and was in quarantine. "The entire world is suffering from the pandemic. What is most important is to save lives rather than deciding matters hastily," Justice Deshpande said.
"The matters can be decided on its own merits in due course of time," the judge added.
The plea before the judge sought the quashing of the civil court's order on the grounds that it was insensitive.
As per the case, the advocate to appear before the lower court was a 74-year-old man, who was hospitalised and referred for home quarantine at the relevant time. Accordingly, the lower court was urged to adjourn the matter for a few weeks. However, it only adjourned the hearing for a single day. Noting the facts of the case, Justice Deshpande said, "In the light of these facts that were not disputed, the judge below should have shown some sensitivity and should not have adjourned the matter only for one day." "However, if proper care is not taken about health, it may result in the loss of lives, which cannot be compensated and the position cannot be reversed. The said aspect ought to have been considered by the learned judge below before passing the order granting only one day adjournment," the judge added while quashing the order.