Allahabad HC Issues Instructions For Functioning Of District Courts During Lockdown

All the District Judges in the state have been instructed to act in consultation with the District Administration to determine the threat level and the status in respect of Zone of the District, on a daily basis. Further, they have been asked to set up dedicated helpline numbers for assisting the Advocates/ Litigants.

The court has also prescribed that the dress code during the court proceedings for Male Counsels will be "White Shirt and light coloured trouser along with band" and for Lady Counsels will be "sober attire along with band".

As per the communication addressed to all the Subordinate courts:

• Complete sanitization of the entire court campus shall be ensured before re-opening of the court, and everyday thereafter. Wherever such sanitization work in the Court is not carried out, such Courts should not be opened for the Judicial Work;
• Thermal scanning check-up of all the persons entering in the court premises shall also be ensured;
• A dedicated helpline for assisting the advocates/Litigants mentioning the Landline/ Mobile Numbers shall be published on the District Court website and the same be strengthened. The Services of Para Legal Volunteers be taken by the District Legal Services Authority for manning such facility;
• Judicial Officers are exempted from wearing Coat & Gown.

The High Court has instructed that all the District Judges shall submit a daily consolidated report of the Zone status, number of the cases/ applications decided, feedback etc. on the prescribed weblink to the Joint Registrar of the High Court.

Further, detailed instructions for the courts situated in Green, Orange and Red Zones have been issued. The same may be accessed in the communication attached below.