COVID-19: Delhi High Court to hear only 'extremely urgent matters' filed in 2021 from tomorrow

New Delhi: In view of the alarming rise in COVID-19 cases in the National Capital, the Delhi High Court on Sunday issued an office order stating that from 19 April onwards it will only take up “extremely urgent matters” filed this year. The order issued by the High Court’s Registrar General Manoj Jain also said that other pending routine or non-urgent matters and those cases filed or listed before the court between 22 March, 2020 and 31 December, 2020 shall not be taken up for now and would be adjourned en bloc. “In case of any extreme urgency, the request in the pending matters may be made on the already notified designated link,” the order said.

In view of an upsurge in #COVID19 cases in NCT of Delhi, Delhi High Court, with effect from April 19, will take up extremely urgent matters filed in the year 2021 only pic.twitter.com/bUWhTXaIj2

— ANI (@ANI) April 18, 2021

“Keeping in view the alarming rise in COVID-19 cases in the NCT of Delhi, it has been ordered that all the benches of this court shall with effect from 19 April, 2021 take up extremely urgent matters filed in the year 2021 only,” the order said. The National Capital reported 25,500 fresh coronavirus infections in the last 24 hours The latest direction is in continuation of the court’s 8 April decision that from 9 to 23 April it will take up matters “through virtual mode only” in view of the rise in COVID-19 cases. The high court had commenced complete physical functioning from 15 March onwards. Subsequently, it had said that virtual or hybrid proceedings would be held on the request of lawyers. Following the outbreak of COVID-19 in March last year, the court was holding proceedings through video conferencing. Its functioning was restricted to urgent matters from 16 March last year. Thereafter, from 25 March last year, the functioning of the high court and district courts was further restricted and no physical hearing was being conducted due to the spread of COVID-19. Subsequently, from September last year, a few benches started holding physical courts every day on a rotation basis. Some of them also started holding hybrid proceedings, wherein lawyers have the option to attend the hearing via video conference instead of appearing in person.